Ried Zieregg IZ Reserve, Große STK Lage 2015

Wine Description for Ried Zieregg IZ Reserve Große STK Lage 2015 by Tement

Colour & Appearance

Luminous golden yellow with bright reflections – a wine that carries its nearly ten years of maturation with proud presence, without showing even a hint of age fatigue.

Nose

An olfactory firework that shatters every convention. Intense oriental spices – cardamom, curry, cumin and saffron – dominate initially, before an opulent fruit palette of khaki, mirabelle plum and peach unfolds. Nashi pear and grapefruit as well as kaffir lime leaves provide tart freshness. Beneath them soft layers of brioche, butterscotch and spelt biscuit. In the background subtle notes of anise, artichoke, fennel and aubergine – an aromatic profile of rare depth and identity.

Palate

The first sip is a revelation: powerful, concentrated, demanding. This wine pulls no punches. Despite its enormous intensity, it never feels heavy or cloying – quite the opposite, it stimulates relentlessly. Stony minerality and saline notes provide counterpoints to the opulent fruit. The oriental spices return, oscillating between ripe yellow fruits and tart freshness. A wine of monumental complexity that reveals new facets in every moment – elegant and powerful at once.

Finish

Long, saline-mineral and of impressive precision. The spice and stoniness linger, whilst the freshness cleanses the palate and demands the next sip.

Terroir & Origin

The Ried Zieregg in South Styria is characterised by calcareous marl and coral limestone soils. The extraordinary complexity of this vineyard site led to its division into 16 parcels, which are worked individually – a terroir of rare intricacy.

Grape Variety & Vinification

Sauvignon Blanc in its most extreme form. The house’s own IZ®-process (Intercellular Berry Fermentation) gives each berry 100 days for intracellular fermentation in the berry skin. Subsequently aged for 54 months without added sulphur on fine lees in neutral oak barrels. Bottled unfiltered in April 2020 – a radical approach that captures terroir in its purest form.

Food Pairing Recommendations

This wine demands cuisine at the highest level: scallops with saffron foam, roasted turbot with fennel vegetables, calf sweetbreads with morels or aged Comté. Asian fusion cuisine with curry and lemongrass also finds a congenial partner here.

Special Features

A wine that shatters conventions and sets new standards. The Große STK Lage classification does this monument more than justice. A Sauvignon Blanc that proves Austrian white wine belongs among the most complex in the world.