Bianco 'Naked' Weingut Heinrich 2024

Weingut Heinrich with its "Naked" offers us a welcome entry into the world of whites made with the only ingredient being grapes and a wise management of interventions in the cellar: an intriguing, complex, and pure blend like the territory of origin.

Weingut Heinrich produces its "Naked" through the vinification of a series of white grape varieties typical of Austrian viticulture. The vineyards of Chardonnay, Weissburgunder, Welschriesling, Grüner Veltliner, Neuburger, Muskat Ottonel, Pinot Gris, Roter Traminer that make up the blend are located near the shores of Lake Neusiedl, a body of water stretched out in the Burgenland region, the extreme southeastern sector of Austria, whose southernmost tip touches the Hungarian border. On the western side, the slopes of Leithaberg, at an altitude of about 160 meters above sea level, are composed of a soil of limestone and slate to a depth of one meter, while in the northeast sector, the Plandorfer Platte, a flat alluvial expanse originating from the Danube, is characterized by gravel and sand. The agronomic regime has always followed the precepts of organic farming, also using biodynamic principles, in a windy climate influenced by the presence of forests and especially by the lake basin. The harvest is done manually at the beginning of September, and the whole bunches are pressed and left to macerate on the must for one night. The alcoholic and malolactic fermentations take place spontaneously in stainless steel tanks, while the aging proceeds on fine lees for 14 months in wooden barrels. "Naked" is bottled unfiltered and with a homeopathic quantity of sulfites.

Weingut Heinrich's "Naked" presents an amber color and a vaguely hazy appearance, illuminated by brilliant reflections. The nose offers a reticent impact, then emerging with herbal freshness and hints of dried herbs, and subsequently overflowing with fragrant and rich notes of white-fleshed fruit, spiced with mace and floral with rose petals. The sip is dynamic and hints at a velvety softness, balanced with an agile freshness and a fine tannic structure, towards a finish of good persistence. A characterful white for cheese platters or stews.