Bonsai 2022 - Claus Preisinger (fin nature)

Very nice Blaufränkisch from Claus Preisinger. Light, soft, fruity and juicy, with a touch of spiciness, rosehip, raspberries and cassis. Definitely drink slightly chilled. This 'Bonsai' comes from Blaufränkisch sticks that were planted very close together and also kept very short, which makes the orchard seem full of Bonsai trees. Hence, Bonsai!

Blaufränkisch (Lemberger in German) is compared to the Zweigelt grape a bit more complex. Zweigelt can be quite juicy with lots of red cherry and nice acidity, Blaufränkisch has a bit more spice and bitterness, power and is a bit less high in acidity.

• Country / region: Austria / Wein aus Österreich (Burgenland)
• Grape variety(s): 100% Blaufränkisch (Lemberger).
• In the vineyard: Terroir of black earth and gravel. This 'Bonsai' comes from Blaufränkisch vines that are planted very close together and also kept very short, which makes the orchard seem full of Bonsai trees. Vines of about 22 years old.
• In the wine cellar: Short skin maceration of 3 days. Carbonic maceration, maturation in large old wooden barrels. Unfiltered, without addition of sulphites.
• Character: Fruity, soft, slightly spicy
• Quality mark: Biodynamic & Vin nature

Claus Preisinger is a talented young Austrian winemaker who has become an established name in the biodynamic/natural wine scene. At the Neusiedlersee, near Gols, his father cultivated a small 3 ha of orchards, as a hobby. After helping his father in the orchards for years and experience in California and with neighbor Hans Nittnaus, he took over his father's orchards in 2000. Claus has managed to expand these to a whopping 17 ha. On a soil consisting predominantly of fossil limestone and calcareous sandstone , he cultivates mainly local Blaufrankisch, together with St. Laurent, Zweigelt, Pinot Noir, Weissburgunder, Gruner Veltliner and Welschriesling. Gols is located on the eastern side of the Neusiedlersee in the so-called Seewinkel. This extends to the Hungarian border. Here it is scorching hot in the summer, resulting in the production of top red wines. They can compete worldwide. "My wines are a mirror image of nature. I do not intervene artificially in the vineyard or in the cellar. Even if I can improve the result, I still accept what nature gives of itself instead of intervening and manipulating." According to Claus Preisinger.

Claus is also co-founder of Pannobile (2004), a collective from Burgenland of 9 winegrowers (including Nittnaus and Pittnauer) who have been working the vineyards strictly biodynamically since 1994 and making natural wine in the wine cellar. Nothing out and nothing in. With the exception of his playful 'Beaujolais wine' Puszta Libre, Claus' wines are clean/pure and especially show the terroir well in the wine. Claus uses various methods and techniques to make different styles of wine. From Ancestral (Perlwein), fresh Puszta Libre that is drunk chilled (Maceration Carbonique), elegant white wines with skin maceration (Orange wine), top white wines to very powerful full red wines. Der Claus shows that natural wine does not have to be full of wine faults, but can be very good, pure and clean. Pure vin nature.