Great vintage sparkling wine in red-white-red
The Ebner-Ebenauer winegrowing couple in Poysdorf in the Weinviertel region of Austria are launching a new limited edition Zero Dosage. A hand-picked exclusive sparkling wine made exclusively from local indigenous grape varieties. The Austrian is coming!
Vienna, 28 November 2023
Zweigelt, Welschriesling, Sankt Laurent. These are the red-white-red grape varieties from which Marion and Manfred Ebner-Ebenauer's L'Autrichienne Zero Dosage 2017 is made. French in style with fermentation in small wooden barrels, long maturation on the lees after the second fermentation in the bottle and bottling without dosage. Austrian in origin, flavour and red-white-red finish. The winemaker couple, internationally renowned for their outstanding vintage sparkling wines made from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, have been experimenting with local grapes since 2007. The aim was to create a "patriotic Champagne interpretation" alongside the Blanc de Blancs Zero Dosage, the 2010 vintage of which was highly rated as "Austria's finest fizzs" in Robert Parker's Wine Advocate. "Killing Champagne" was the verdict on the 2008 vintage and became a catchphrase when it came to Ebner-Ebenauer's sparkling wines. Now "the Austrian" is hot on their heels. L'Autrichienne Zero Dosage 2017 is being launched as a limited edition and is now available in Austria at Wein & Co and Vinorama/Morandell as well as via the winery's online shop for 60 euros a bottle.
The making of L'Autrichienne. The Zweigelt, Welschriesling and Sankt Laurent grapes come from the mineral limestone vineyard Ried Alte Geringen above the picturesque Kellergasse (cellar lane) in Ketzelsdorf, south-east of Poysdorf. Also home to the Chardonnay for the Blanc de Blancs. They were harvested by hand in September 2017, whole-bunch pressed with a 50 per cent yield and fermented in 500-litre barrels without temperature control. After six months, the base wine was bottled for the second fermentation and remained there for five and a half years until the sparkling wine was shaken by hand, disgorged in August 2023 and - as always at Ebner-Ebenauer - made ready for dispatch without dosage. The transparent bottle with the elaborately designed red label is a statement in favour of the local origin of the grape varieties. The winegrowing couple are passionate about their "red-white-red craft" and recommend decanting L'Autrichienne before drinking and enjoying it in a wine glass.
The Weingut Ebner-Ebenauer. In 2007, Marion and Manfred Ebner-Ebenauer took over their now eighteen-hectare vineyard in Poysdorf in the Weinviertel region of Lower Austria. The small vineyards with their ancient, gnarled vines are scattered around the wine town. Exclusively manual labour has therefore always been a matter of course, as has spontaneous fermentation and plenty of maturing time in the cellar. Their most important and expressive vineyards are Hermannschachern, Bürsting, Sauberg and Alte Geringen, planted with Grüner Veltliner, Burgundy, St. Laurent, Riesling and the grape varieties for the outstanding vintage sparkling wines. The winery has been organically farmed since 2016 and was certified organic in 2019. In 2023, Manfred and Marion Ebner-Ebenauer joined the respekt-BIODYN winegrowers' group. In 2022, they were the first "Winemaker Couple of the Year" by the Austrian Falstaff magazine.
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Further enquiry
Sylvia Petz | Agency for organised enjoyment
Gumpendorfer Strasse 16/8, 1060 Vienna, sylvia-petz.at
Email: sp@sylvia-petz.at, Tel. +43 699 1100 8040
