Pinot Noir – 2022

Elegant Pinot Noir from the Gernot Heinrich Winery in Gols

Pinot Noir from Gernot Heinrich is a lean, translucent Pinot Noir from Burgenland that spends only one week on the skins. Not a heavy, oak-driven red wine, but a bright wine with raspberry fruit, meadow herbs, and gentle tannins.

Pinot Noir is the light Spätburgunder from the Gernot Heinrich winery in Gols, in Austria's Burgenland region, grown on both sides of Lake Neusiedl. The grapes for the 2022 vintage are grown partly on limestone-rich soils near the cooling edge of the forest on the Leitha Mountains. Other rows grow on the sunny slopes at the southeastern edge of the Parndorf Plain, where the subsoil consists of gravelly-sandy loam. With 11.5 percent alcohol, it stands at the very light end of the red wine spectrum.

Translucent color and bright raspberry

Anyone holding the glass up to the light will not see a dark red wine, but a translucent, almost cherry-red color. The eye thus prepares itself for a light weight, and the first sip confirms this impression.

The aroma remains delicate and never pushes itself forward. Fresh blackberries and bright red raspberries mingle with meadow herbs and a hint of orange zest. On the palate, the red berry fruit meets a lively acidity and tannins that remain gentle rather than astringent.

This creates the kind of tension that, after the first sip, quickly makes you reach for a second. It is served cool, at about twelve degrees Celsius, because warmth makes it sluggish and the fine herbal spice then disappears behind the fruit.

Short maceration and aging in wooden fermentation vats

In the vineyard, Pinot Noir is the winery's most delicate variety because its thin skin reacts immediately to every drop of rain and any rot. Rain at harvest time can cost an entire parcel, which is exactly why this variety has a reputation for testing one's nerves.

Spätburgunder is the German name for the variety, and it is harvested here by hand, at the end of September 2022, making it earlier than the grand cuvées. Afterward, the grapes remain on the skins for only one week, which is short for a red wine and explains the delicate color. It is subsequently pressed in a basket press and fermented solely with the yeasts from the vineyard.

Maturation then takes place for seven months in wooden fermentation vats on its own lees, meaning in wood that does not impart any vanilla. The wine was bottled at the end of March 2023, and because the vineyards are Demeter-certified and farmed according to the rules of respekt-BIODYN, its character remains clear all the way into the glass.

What pairs well with this light red wine

Vitello tonnato gains from this light red wine the acidity that the cool tuna sauce otherwise lacks, while still keeping the cold veal in the foreground.

A mushroom risotto brings out the earthy side, and smoked trout asserts itself alongside the delicate fruit without imposing the smoke on it. 750 milliliters are enough for a long evening for two, which is why the six-bottle case is the more sensible size for many kitchens.

The younger vintage is available as Pinot Noir 2023 and, following a longer maceration period, shows a firmer tension. If you want to stay on the subject of Burgundy, the path leads to the Pinot Freyheit, and the entire assortment can be found at Weingut Gernot Heinrich. Further light bottles for warm evenings are ready in the Red Wine section.

Pinot Noir – a wine and its values

• Origin: Wine from Austria
• Region: Burgenland
• Grape variety: Pinot Noir
• Demeter certified
• Respekt Biodyn wine
• vegan
• 11.5% ABV
• 5.5 g/l acidity
• 1.3 g/l residual sugar

Organic inspection body AT-BIO-402 – Austrian Agriculture