Zweigelt

Stefanie Renner's Zweigelt comes from Gols, where she and her sister Susanne took over their parents' winery in 2014 and turned it into Rennersistas. The first wines came from the 2015 vintage, and since 2021 Stefanie has run the estate with her brother Georg.

The grapes for the 2023 were picked by hand and fermented spontaneously. The estate says it ages its wines on the fine lees in oak and clay, in an earth cellar built in 1961, and neither fines nor filters any of them. One merchant describes the Zweigelt as fermented in whole clusters, five days on its skins in steel, then twelve months on its lees in used foudre and Austrian oak. Its listing names no vintage, so that may describe another year.

By the national harvest report, Austria's 2023 began with an extremely dry winter and plenty of rain in April and May. Summer brought hot spells and local hail in almost every region, and rain in August pushed the ripening along. In Burgenland's red-wine areas, the report says, growers picked fully ripe, healthy grapes with mature tannins.

The estate's shop suggests serving it slightly chilled. A Burgenland red meant to be drunk cool.