I love this. I feel a lot of these same things about “natural” / low-intervention / minimal intervention wine. There is so much to like or even love about the people making it.
Ha ha. There’s likely a character limit on these things. ;) at the moment, I’m all about Austria and to a lesser but still very enthusiastic extent, Hungary, Slovenia, and Slovakia. Austrian wines are far more available (though not as available as I’d like —NY is the best place). A few I like which I think are at least available in major cities: Schloss Gobelsburg, Meinklang (I haven’t had it but I know they have a pet-nat called Foam that apparently even those who might not think they’d like it like it), Werlitsch, Stadlmann, Wenzel, Kolfok, Tement. (As a disclaimer/caveat emptor, I’ll say not all of these producers may fit into some definitions of “natural.” In other words, they are not all zero-zero [zero added in / zero taken out]. I think they all at the least fall into minimal intervention/no pesticides, though.)
And I forgot to add that Austria (like many countries) has unique grapes (autochthonous) that make wonderful-to-me wines. These include but are not limited to Blaufränkisch (a red), Welschriesling (no relation to Riesling/white), and Grüner Veltliner (white). Hungary and Slovenia use some of these grapes as well but usually with different names.
I love this. I feel a lot of these same things about “natural” / low-intervention / minimal intervention wine. There is so much to like or even love about the people making it.
So glad this resonated with you! Who are some of your favorite producers?
Ha ha. There’s likely a character limit on these things. ;) at the moment, I’m all about Austria and to a lesser but still very enthusiastic extent, Hungary, Slovenia, and Slovakia. Austrian wines are far more available (though not as available as I’d like —NY is the best place). A few I like which I think are at least available in major cities: Schloss Gobelsburg, Meinklang (I haven’t had it but I know they have a pet-nat called Foam that apparently even those who might not think they’d like it like it), Werlitsch, Stadlmann, Wenzel, Kolfok, Tement. (As a disclaimer/caveat emptor, I’ll say not all of these producers may fit into some definitions of “natural.” In other words, they are not all zero-zero [zero added in / zero taken out]. I think they all at the least fall into minimal intervention/no pesticides, though.)
And I forgot to add that Austria (like many countries) has unique grapes (autochthonous) that make wonderful-to-me wines. These include but are not limited to Blaufränkisch (a red), Welschriesling (no relation to Riesling/white), and Grüner Veltliner (white). Hungary and Slovenia use some of these grapes as well but usually with different names.
I love it! Meinklang makes delicious wines. Thanks for the fabulous recommendations!