I'm fascinated by people like Max Baumann, who is probably taking over his parents' winery very soon. The winery exists for a long time as part of a farm, initially as part of the local coop where grapes were just dropped off to be made into a simple wine. In 1989 the dad Martin started making his own wines. Max himself has toured the world and learned at various wineries, including a full-time gig at Gut Oggau as assistant winemaker. Since 2016 Max is making more and more wines at the winery, so more significant parts of the portfolio are becoming natural. All the land was slowly being transitioned to organic farming. The future is looking bright, and in 2020, the winery will be entirely organically certified for all of the 5.8 hectares.
Ok, maybe this isn't a real red, but it isn't an orange wine either. But, who cares. It's a mix of grapes that were all harvested in late September. They grow on shell limestone with a south-western orientation, which delivers quite outstanding grapes for ageable wines. The Silvaner was directly pressed, and the Pinot Gris and the Chardonnay got a skin contact of 10 days. This explains the copper color as Pinot Gris turns reddish if you leave to macerate it, as the skin has red pigments. After this initial period, it is left for 10 months on the lees to continue fermentation and age in used barrels. The result is already impressive, but if you feel like you can keep this wine for a long time in your cellar. Right now, you get some beautiful floral notes mixed with some slight buttery tones. In the mouth, it's just a super balanced sweet citrus with rose petals and a salty, bitter finish. It's a smasher you should enjoy with not too spicy food or maybe even some German blander food.