Lichtenberger Gonzalez Muschelkalk Weiss 2021
Lichtenberger Gonzalez Muschelkalk Weiss 2021
1 - 2

Lichtenberger Gonzalez Muschelkalk Weiss 2021

Lichtenberger-Gonzalez
$22.00

Grape: Gruner Veltliner, Welschriesling, Weibburgunder
Vintage: 2021
Type: White

Sourced from biodynamically farmed vineyards on the Leithaberg hillsides in Burgenland, this white cuvée comes from old vines grown in limestone-rich shell soils locally known as Muschelkalk. Winemakers Martin and Adriana Lichtenberger-González practice minimal intervention, fermenting the hand-harvested grapes spontaneously with native yeasts after a brief period of skin contact. The wine ages on its fine lees in large, neutral oak casks to allow the site's distinct calcareous minerality to express itself without wood character or oak tannins. Bottled unfined, unfiltered, and with minimal sulfur additions, this is a tactile, dry, and soil-driven Austrian white defined by tension and purity.

A hazy, pale yellow-gold color in the glass leads into high-toned aromas of yellow apple, preserved lemon, white blossom, wet chalk, and wild herbs. The palate is dry, crisp, and linear, offering focused flavors of crunchy pear, raw almond, salt-cured citrus, and lemongrass framed by a light phenolic grip. A driving beam of natural acidity cuts through the wine's textured leesy mid-palate, giving the mouthfeel an energetic, lip-smacking quality. It concludes on a long, refreshing finish marked by persistent notes of crushed stone, citrus pith, and a subtle salinity.

" Please don’t expect us to be on the same page as the rest when it comes to taste. The opposite is the case. We tend to take the long road and make our wines slowly and patiently by hand: the way wine has always been made. Spontaneous fermentation, in wooden barrels, a long time on the lees and minimal intervention. After all, nature knows best what it needs and doesn’t require any certificates to be itself. Just like us ;-)"

Winery

It was at an internship at a California winery that Martin Lichtenberger met the love of his life Ariana Gonzalez, a Spanish winemaker. Once back in Austria the two further honed their craft by making wines for Gernot Heinrich and Rosi Schuster, while slowly but surely developing their own vision for what was to become the new incarnation of Martin's parents' winery: Lichtenberger-Gonzalez.

With this much background in winemaking on both sides it was clear that the wines could only be made a certain way, one that would go back to the roots of winemaking where quality is produced by hand and without the use of technology. Everything they needed to make great wines had long been invented and the other ingredients needed, namely old vines, interesting terroir in the form of limestone were available to them at the Leithaberg mountains of the Burgenland region where Martin had grown up.