Gelber Muskateller Kitzeck-Sausal – from the Wohlmuth Winery
The Wohlmuth Gelber Muskateller Kitzeck-Sausal 2021 is a fragrant, dry white wine from Styria, Austria. The Gelber Muskateller from the Wohlmuth estate is a wonderfully floral, tremendously juicy local wine with a fresh arc of acidity. On the nose and palate, it impresses with a grapey nuance and a broad spectrum of aromas: from floral notes of elderflower and white tropical fruit, such as exotic lychee, to nutmeg and a touch of pepper, all while carrying a fine, schist-driven spice—a wonderfully cool minerality, finesse, and precision. This highlights the brilliant interplay between grape variety, soil, terroir, and the winemaker's craft, which has a 200-year-old tradition at the Wohlmuth estate.
Wohlmuth – Winemaking
The Muskateller vines grow on incredibly steep vineyard slopes planted on Paleozoic schist soils. Influenced by the Illyrian climate—which brings warm winds from the Mediterranean and cool winds from the northern Alps to Kitzeck in Southern Styria—and through extensive manual labor on the steep slopes, which requires an admirable connection to the land, this dry white wine is created with a distinctive, complex fruit expression.
All grapes are harvested late and selectively by hand. Since the vineyards are located around the winery, there is no need for long transport routes. After a maceration period of 4–8 hours, slow, temperature-controlled fermentation takes place at approx. 20 degrees Celsius. To preserve the fragrance and freshness, the wine is matured on the fine lees in stainless steel tanks until bottling at the end of February.
The Muskateller grape variety has a long tradition and is considered one of the oldest cultivated varieties, with a multitude of variants. Gelber Muskateller is a rather late-ripening variety and finds optimal conditions for its long vegetation period at the Wohlmuth winery in Styria. It owes its name to its typically intense, nutmeg-like fragrance.
The Gelber Muskateller Kitzeck-Sausal is a classic local wine made exclusively from grapes grown around Kitzeck in Southern Styria. The Kitzeck-Sausal local appellation is a geological rarity within Southern Styria, as the soils are significantly older than in the rest of the region and originated over 400 million years ago alongside the Central Alps. The landscape is therefore more rugged, which is reflected around the town of Kitzeck not only in impressively steep vineyards but also in numerous terrace systems. The difference between the highest point of the hills and the valley floor is usually over 200 meters, which is also reflected in the extraordinary steepness of the vineyard sites. The vineyards are largely located at altitudes of 380 to 650 meters, which contributes to good aeration of the vines.
The attractively modern label is designed each year by a different young artist. For 2021, it is "Der Schwarm" (The Swarm) by Thomas Riess. The internationally active artist, born in Tyrol in 1970 and now living in Vienna, explores humanity and its perception of time and reality in a multimedia reality. As a graduate of the graphic design class at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg, he also finds his creative expression through drawing, collage, and video.
Gelber Muskateller Kitzeck-Sausal – a wine and its values
- Origin: wine from Austria
- Region: Southern Styria
- Grape variety: Gelber Muskateller
- Local wine: Kitzeck-Sausal
- vegan
- 12.0% vol. alcohol
- 6.8 g/l acidity
- 3.0 g/l residual sugar