Winemaker Notes
The Numen Sankt Laurent Rose comes from a tiny parcel of Sankt Laurent planted at the top of the Steinthal vineyard in 1922. This is not a rosé in the conventional sense. Rather, this is a light-colored, yet mind-bogglingly complex red wine made by semi-carbonic whole-cluster fermentation in amphora, then left to rest for 8 months in the same vessel. There is a gentle extraction of color. The wine is then decanted into 500-liter barrels of acacia and oak for 4 months before being bottled without fining or filtration. This old vine St. Laurent from amphora has juicy bright berry fruit which almost leaps out of the glass. The texture is as silky as a Pinot Noir and as full and brambly as a Syrah. This is a unique and stunning wine that simply must be tasted to be believed.
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Enthusiast
Light red or a dark rosé, this is on you to decide, as this white transcends boundaries of classification. Rather, it redefines the variety of Sankt Laurent, showing essentially, a dark brooding side, filled with dark cherry and violet, and a light, vibrant and mouthwatering side with white raspberry and tamarind. Beautiful texture, too.
Whether it’s playful and fun or savory and serious, most rosé today is not your grandmother’s White Zinfandel, though that category remains strong. Pink wine has recently become quite trendy, and this time around it’s commonly quite dry. Since the pigment in red wines comes from keeping fermenting juice in contact with the grape skins for an extended period, it follows that a pink wine can be made using just a brief period of skin contact—usually just a couple of days. The resulting color depends on grape variety and winemaking style, ranging from pale salmon to deep magenta.
The source of Austria’s finest botrytized sweet wines, Burgenland covers a lofty portion of Austria's wine producing real estate. It encompasses the smaller regions of Neusiedlersee, Neusiedlersee-Hügelland, Mittelburgenland and Südburgenland. The latter two are most associated with their exceptional red wines. The region as a whole produces no shortage of important whites.
Neusiedlersee, named for the lake that it surrounds to the east, is home to a great diversity of grape varieties. The region’s most notable wines, however, are the botrytis-infected, sweet versions.
Neusiedlersee-Hügelland, which wraps the lake on its western side, includes the town of Rust, a historically esteemed wine community. Its close proximity to the lake’s fog and mist make it another source of some of the more prestigious botrytized wines. Neusiedlersee-Hügelland also produces fine Blaufränkisch, Pinot Blanc, Neuburger and Grüner Veltliner, though a label will usually name the more general, Burgenland, so as not to confuse it with its eastern cousin, Neusiedlersee, across the lake.
Blaufränkisch is well suited to and makes up over half of the vineyard area in Mittelburgenland. The region’s hills and plateaus, which are composed of variations in schist, loess and clay-limestone, produce high quality reds with interesting diversity.
Südburgenland, also known for its deep, complex and age-worthy Blaufränkisch, is beginning to turn out some alluring whites from Grüner Veltliner, Welschriesling and Weissburgunder (Pinot Blanc).