2022 Gut Oggau Cecilia

WINEMAKER: Stephanie & Eduard Tscheppe-Eselböck
REGION: Burgenland, AT
VARIETY: Field Blend
VITICULTURE: Certified Biodynamic

Steffi and Edi on this wine: “Meet Cecilia, the new family member! You see her, you taste her, you feel her, she inspires you. She doesn’t care about conventions, and won’t be put in a box. She shows you that it’s good to be a little bit different. Mixed in white and red, rooted on limestone she shines bright and proves there’s much more beyond the defined categories. A lover of horses, her soil releases distinct character; we know this is only the start of a beautiful journey we’ll share together. A journey into being one’s true self, without any pretension. Together with Cecilia, we care less about trying to impress, and only about remaining independent.”

Cecilia comes from a 1.4ha plot planted in Gemischter Satz (a field blend of red and white grape varieties), which Steffi and Eduard have made into a beautiful and idiosyncratic rosé. 2/3 of the grapes are pressed directly and 1/3 are crushed and macerated. The must is fermented spontaneously in large wooden vats and matured in 1500l wooden barrels. The wine is bottled unfined, unfiltered, and with zero addition of sulphur.

In 2007, Stephanie & Eduard Tscheppe-Eselböck painstakingly restored a 17th century winery in Burgenland that had been abandoned for 20 years, including its 200-year-old screw press. The vines’ 20-year period of neglect was fortunate, as this allowed for all pesticide and chemical treatments to be washed away, immediately converting the vineyard to biodynamics. CULT STATUS.