The town of Rust and Ausbruch can not be separated from each other. The history goes a long way back, 1524 when Queen Maria from Hungary granted the mark of origin to the wines (the barrels were branded with an “R”). Rust gained a sort of independence during the medieval time when it supported the Empire’s treasury not only with money but also with plenty of wine. The town became its own coat-of-arm and gained a lot of privilege with the patronage from the Hungarian king.

The region could be considered as a historic red wine producing area, but ideal conditions are given to make some of the most stunning sweet wines in the world. Neusiedlersee-Hügelland on the west side of the lake Neusiedl with the gentle rolling hills, high limestone contain in the soil (can provide good acidity for wines) with the lake and its vast area and shallow water level. This not only acts as a temperature control it´s but also ideal for the development of botrytis cinerea, the fungus which is responsible for so many great sweet wines.

The word Ausbruch translates into, breaking out (similar to German TBA but specialty of Rust/Austria), meaning that when the noble fungus botrytis attacks the berries they usually shrivel or split up, concentrating high amounts of sugar but also not loosing any acidity while water evaporates. The harvest has to be done manually, selecting the right berries, picking them literally individually over and over again, visit to the vineyard becomes for harvesters a more frequent job in September-October but perhaps even until November if necessary.

The shrivelled berries must have by law 135 °Oe, (27 KMW) and of course must come from the wine region, at the Feiler Artinger house this is rather 155 °Oe, or at least above 30 KMW of must weight. Intense concentration of sweetness which result in wines usually between 11%-14% ABV (14% ABV see on Zweigelt red Ausbruch, tasting notes below) and sugar levels of 130 g/l to 400 g/l.

On the southern bit of the wine region there is quite a bit of granite and even slate soil to be found, while the northern part is rather rich in lime, the closer you get to the lake the more clay is on the top soil. When you say Hügelland, hilly land it means the highest part is not higher then 190 m, the lake itself is 120 m on sea level, already. But it does protect against severe wind and rainfall. According to older records the botrytis noble rot started earlier in the flat parts, closer to the lake. The term “Ried” meaning single vineyard, is not as important compared to Germany (terms of classification e.g. VDP), however it does make a difference in planting red and white varieties (later also for sweets) and records prove that some vineyards yield better (also higher KMWs) then others. I remember one of my first experiences of Ruster Ausbruch was the one from Robert Wenzel, the vineyard name: Satz. Fantastic!

Sometimes also called liquid gold, the Feiler house produces two different types of Ausbruch. One the so called traditional and most common, practiced method is when the must is fermented in 300 l barrels, used barrels hence no impact of oak flavours will influence the wine. Fermentation usually stops naturally when the yeast dies, after racking sulphuring takes place and the wine is aged for around 12-14 months in the same cask where it previously fermented. After a few more rackings, filtration the wine gets bottled. With the so called Pinot Cuvée range, the oak changes to new or second fillings, the barrel change to 225l barriques (closer to the Burgundy sized barrels) and it also spends longer in oak, up to 18 months. And the grape varieties are: Pinot Blanc (Weissburgunder), Pinot Gris (Grauburgunder), Chardonnay (often also called Morillon) and Neuburger. This later variety is a cross between Pinot Blanc and Sylvaner. It resembles quite a bit of characteristics of the later, tend to appreciate noble rot, high natural acidity and mostly neutral in taste the better one have some spicy character and usually fairly good when it comes to ripening.

To highlight the fantastic conditions of the Ruster area, the easiest prove it to look at the grapes which can have Oechsle levels of 200° and more. These grapes get fermented in smaller barriques for a longer time (up to 12 months not unusual), fermentation stops with much lower alcohol levels around 9% ABV, and the residual sugar levels can reach up to 250 g/l. Or as Inge Feiler was telling and showing us in the Esszenz Welschriesling 2001, with 5 %ABV and nearly 400 g/l RS, it was not allowed to be called “wine” due to the low alcohol level. Bit confusing, though the potential alcohol level would be way over 20% ABV.

There are quite a few wineries in the town of Rust (wouldn’t surprise me if the major GDP would come from the wineries) this was handy. As the Austrian Wine Academy led by Josef “Pepi” Schuller MW organized for the Master of Wine students during the residential seminar a short visit to some of the leading sweet wine producers of Austria, and I doubt that there is a better place where you find on such a small area so many outstanding wineries. Of course some people argue that the other side of the lake produces better sweet wines, the historic fame however will be always in favour for Rust. One of the leading producers is the Feiler – Artinger Estate, famous not only for their sweet wines, but also for the reds.

The winery is at the main road in Rust, housed in a stunning Baroque building with huge courtyard and a wide cellar system stretches underneath the property. The winery has 30 ha planted, mainly with red varieties beside the usual varieties there is also some Pinot Noir and Syrah. Quite an extensive range of grapes if you look at the bigger picture. It´s a family business where everyone is involved. I know most their wines and they always show not only great consistency but also superb fruit with a lot of identity, I reckon you could easily call this the spirit of terroir. Cannot remember to tasted their Syrah, but rather convincing always the “traditional” varieties/wines. On this evening the sweet wines were stunning, rich and dense with superb concentration and great vibrant finish. Always a pleasure to sample these, many thanks for Mrs Feiler and of course Pepi Schuller MW as well.

Tasted wines

22/01/2010 Feiler Artinger
Ruster Ausbruch Zweigelt 2007
14% ABV, 132 g/l RS, 6,6 g/l TA
Quick pressing, 2-3 days skin contact. Light ruby colour, with 30 KMW, ripe nose fair touch of botrytis, quite high in alcohol, good acidity, lively and ripe red fruit, strawberry with a touch of honey, silky sweetness on the palate, full bodied, sweet red wine! Good balance, drinks well.

Ausbruch Pinot Cuvée 2007
11% ABV, 222 g/l RS, 7,6 g/l TA
Rich golden colour, with plenty of tropical notes, full botrytis, clean and lovely, super charged citrus and lime fruit, pine apple, superb sweetness, good acidity on the palate, round and elegant, quite a kick on the finish with a whiff of vanilla, elegant.

Ausbruch 2007
Welschriesling, Weissburgunder, Neuburger, Chardonnay
11% ABV, 249 g/l RS, 7,2 g/l TA
Golden colour, rich tropical notes, ripe fruit, mango, maracuja, citrus, whiff of spice. Rich dense and full of sweetness on the palate, great density, soft acidity, rather medium, yet a good balance, marmalade and jam finish.

Ausbruch Welschriesling & Pinot Gris 2003
Deep golden colour, clean and pronounced botrytis with full on tropical notes, rich sweetness, bomb, yet a lower acidity makes the wine a bit slower on the palate (hot vintage), alcohol 12%, slightly harder on the finish. Not the most ideal conditions for botrytis the hot vintage.

Ausbruch 2001
Golden colour, full ripe notes, pronounced on the nose. Some spice, clove, ginger whiff of herbal elements with menthol and still plenty of tropical fruit on the nose. Lovely crisp, soft juicy, dense tropical fruit, good structure, great botrytis note, fun – complex wine, with a long finish.

Chardonnay Esszenz 2006
6,5% ABV, 382 g/l RS, 11,7 g/l TA
Deep colour, superb high notes of tropical fruit, rich and rich, delicious. Superb sweetness, dense, great drive on the palate, yet very vibrant with a marmalade, passion fruit, dense structure, pineapple, mango, superbly concentrated and great acidity.

Welschriesling Esszenz 2001
Deep golden colour, full notes of marmalade, honey, fig, great sweetness, 5% ABV only and somewhat of 400 g/l RS, stunning concentration, orange peel, mandarin, great botrytis on the palate, complex and a lot of dimensions at the same time, fantastic. Amazing finish.

Chardonnay & Welschriesling Esszenz 2006
5,5 %ABV, 429 g/l RS, 10,7 g/l TA
Deep golden colour, fruity young nose, soft silky notes, some spice and passion fruit, full and dense, concentration very high. Superb sweetness, full on, rich, rich, rich. Wait which needs time…but stunning richness.

Tags: feiler-artinger, ruster ausbruch

Trackback URI | Comments RSS