Site & soil
At 300 meters above sea level, Ried Kobeln is the highest-elevation vineyard on the Spitzerberg. Here, the layer of topsoil is very thin and exposure to the wind exceptionally open, resulting in extremely low yields. In 2008, a parcel of 1.1 hectares was planted, which yields on average about 1500–2000 kg of grapes. These particular Blaufränkisch berries are quite small, with an average diameter of 8mm, and therefore bring a lot of tannin and aromatic material into the highly concentrated wine. This makes Liebkind a wine that needs even more time to mature. Experience has shown that its elegance & finesse reveal themselves fully only after about five to six years of cellaring.
Harvest & vinification
In order to avoid marmalade flavors, it is very important in this extremely dry vineyard to not wait a single day too long to pick the grapes – they are harvested by hand, and every overripe berry is carefully removed. In the cellar, the grapes are lightly crushed and macerated partly with the stems in open fermentation vats. This extraction is very gentle and occurs completely without pumping, and fermentation begins after a few days thanks to the wild yeasts. The spontaneous fermentation proceeds very slowly and at room temperature; the must is neither heated nor cooled. In this way, the distinctive expression of Ried Kobeln is retained without any signs of extreme heat finding their way into in the wine. After about twenty days, the wine is pressed and then matured in a large, old wooden cask. During the twenty months spent maturing, the wine is racked only one time, and ultimately bottled without filtration. Production is 1.100 bottles.
Vintage 2018
2018 was a year of extremes: very fast flowering, then a cooler period with some rains until end of June. Followed by a very dry and very hot summer. We had to cut off grapes from young vines to prevent them from dying. The old vines with their deep roots, though, were less impressed by the heat. Begin of September, just before harvest, we had big rains which – in the end – were beneficial, as they reduced the stress and helped to soften the tannins. The result is a beautiful complex and dense wine yet refreshing and light footed.
Land: Østrig
Region: Carnuntum
Appellation: Spitzerberg
Druesort: 100% Blaufränkisch
Alkohol: 13,5%
Vintype: Rødvin
Indhold: 75 cl.
Spitzerberg
One can perhaps picture the Spitzerberg as a reef, with the primeval ocean breaking upon its rocks for millions of years. Because of this, the Spitzerberg is covered with a thick layer of limestone, which comes from the ‘middle ages’ of geology. The sandy ground retains little in the way of water, and the mount – some 300 meters in elevation – always lies open to strong winds and high temperatures; there is no mistaking the expressive nature of grapes grown on the Spitzerberg. The extreme conditions yield marvelously aromatic wines with complexity and depth, finely woven filigreed texture and a refreshing framework of acidity.
The Spitzerberg is an approximately 5km-long & 300-metre-high limestone bar in easternmost Carnuntum. It is situated, extremely exposed to the wind, between the Alps (Leitha Range) and the Carpathians (Hainburg Hills). Thanks to the constantly breaking surf of the primeval sea that once covered the area, a thick layer of limestone was deposited on the hillside, which eroded over time to the size of grains of sand. Rainfall on the Spitzerberg amounts to only about 400mm per year, and the summer temperatures often reach 35–40°C. The sandy limestone soil can only store precious little water. This leads to very low yields at harvest, a maximum of 3000kg of grapes per hectare.
