Niederösterreich, or Lower Austria, is a wine region in the northeast of Austria bordering Slovakia and the Czech Republic. It is the country’s largest wine region, both geographically and in terms of production. There are around 28,000 hectares (69,000 acres) of vineyards. These are responsible for roughly half of Austria’s total wine output.
Niederösterreich includes eight of Austria’s 16 official wine regions, each contributing to its wide variety of wine styles and types. A variety of different grape varieties are grown in the region, but Grüner Veltliner and Riesling dominate. Pinot Noir and Sankt-Laurent, are all planted throughout the region as well.
For this bottling of only 125 cases, hand-selected berries go into qvevri, large earthenware vessels used for the fermentation, for a period of 6 months, without being crushed. Skin contact and fermentation happen inside the qvevri and the wine is never filtered except for when they are taken off the skins. The wine is aged for another 12 months in used wood. No further filtration is done. No sulfur is added.
Permanent natural grass and floral cover crop grow between the rows and different types of herbs under the vines. Helping to create a robust ecosystem in the vineyard.
This Numan bottling is 100% Riesling. It has a rich, deep color. Aromatically it leans heavily on ripe yellow peach along with a yellow apple. Citrus notes of Meyer lemon and acacia complete a very complex nose. The texture of the wine is slightly tannic, but still quite refreshing.