Zsolt Sütó’s family only made wine for themselves during communist times, as every family was only allowed 0.2 hectares of land for winemaking. Nowadays, he owns 12 hectares around the village of Strekov and has slowly converted everything to organic farming. For three years now, he’s adding no sulfur to the wines and is doing many wines in the Jura style by not topping them off, so a flor of yeast can form. This adds a third layer of complexity, according to Zsolt. He is also convinced that the top layer of flora and fauna, which he calls the “living space” is more critical than terroir. He might be onto something.
This red wine was made with some new approaches, similar to the one we featured last year. Remember Fred #3? For this year, Zsolt pressed the Alibernet directly, which represents half of the juice, more as you would do for a Champagne Blanc de noir. The other half is foot stomped and ferments for 2 weeks in open casks. After some rest, the two wines are blended in May and result in a very fresh unfiltered wine, which you can easily drink cold. With its fruity berry notes, it will go well with pasta and tomato sauce.