News
2009 – An elegant vintage full of finesse
After a long, cold winter with high humidity spring rapidly came around.
Very warm spring days and a lasting dry period resulted in early budding and caused rapid vine growth. During blossoming, however, rainy weather occurred; the fruit set up was heavily impaired and lower yields were to be expected.
During the vegetation period vines were supplied with sufficient water and grape development proceeded very well.
However, on July 23rd an enormous storm broke out, uprooted trees in Vienna and untiled roofs. This hurricane did enormous damage, but even more dramatic was the damaged caused by the simultaneous heavy hale storm.
Luckily enough the storm was followed by warm and dry weather which dried out the damaged grapes rapidly and prevented any quality impairment.
Harvesting started on September 16th with the Grüner Veltliner and ended on October 28th with the Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese. The required selection process was particularly severe.
The quantities harvested were extremely low, partly because only 15% of an average yield is selected. Production required particularly careful and sensible procedures. The result is surprising: we were able to vinificate one of the most exciting and characteristic vintages, despite extremely difficult circumstances.
Achievements Rotes Haus 2009
Gemischter Satz Reserve 2008 |
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Traminer Preussen |
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Gemischter Satz Reserve Obere Schos 2008 |
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Grüner Veltliner Obere Schos |
The vintage 2008
The vintage 2008 - full of aromas!
This most extraordinary vintage since 1997 is characterised by precise and intense aromas.
Moderate winter humidity and sound blossoming mark the first period of the vintage. The satisfactory fruit set and rainfall in spring challenged the wine grower’s decisions with regard to vineyard management and plant protection. Further hailstorms, as occurred on April 22, in May or June and lastly on August 7, affected individual sites and resulted in a yield reduction of about 20 to 50%. Nevertheless, where pest management was applied successfully, ripening followed normal conditions. The warm days and relatively cool nights provided for an intensiv aromatic vintage. Sauvignon Blanc and Muscat grapes, picked directly from the vines, tasted seductively intensiv. Selective harvesting of the individual vineyards, several runs of harvesting per vineyard and strict grape sorting were finally rewarded with fully ripened grapes. We started harvesting on September 19, 2008 with Pinot Noir from Nussberg. 18 harvesters selected approximately 3,800 kg grapes per day. The actual quantity did not fully meet the expectations, but the quality of the grape material was sensationally good. Due to rainfall in autumn, harvesting had to stop several times in September. However, a period of fine weather in the second half of October allowed for the harvest of physiologically ripe grapes. On November 11, 2008 we finished this year’s harvest with a Gemischter Satz Beerenauslese from Nussberg.
The vintage 2007
An elegant, seductive vintage!
The character of the 2007 vintage reveals elegant, intensive aroma compounds and precise fruity notes revealing a typical grape profile.
Early blossoming, satisfactory fruit set, a very hot summer – June, July and August.
Start of the harvest on August 27 – Primeur Wine, followed by Sauvignon Blanc, Yellow Muscat and Pinot Noir.
Rainfall: September 5, 6 and 7.
Continuation of harvesting with twice as many harvesters one week later.
Strict grape selection in the vineyards – twice as many harvesters – the same quantity as in 2006 with an excellent grape gradation.
2007 – a classic vintage for the Viennese wine which is similar to the vintages of 1997 and 1900.
Starting with the 2007 vintage, we introduced red wines to our product range:
2007 Cuvée Rot Zweigelt, St. Laurent, Pinot Noir and Merlot
Elegant, fruit-driven and freshly structured red cuvée.
Since 2006, when Hans Schmid acquired the traditional winery Mayer am Pfarrplatz, all grapes from the site Rotes Haus are vinificated there and may be tasted or bought at our wine tavern `Mayer am Pfarrplatz´ or our new and refined restaurant `Pfarrwirt.´ The Rote Haus (Red House) is only used privately.
Guided cellar tours are available upon prior notice. Tel.: ++43-(0)1-370 33 61, Email: mayer@pfarrplatz.at
Mayer am Pfarrplatz and Rotes Haus: New ideas and great wines
Mayer am Pfarrplatz and Rotes Haus are jewels from the Viennese wines. Under new management, the 2006 vintage wines rank among the very best of the region and, since October 2007, a new highlight of Viennese tavern culture sparkles at Pfarrplatz.
Vienna Nussdorf, September 17, 2007: The new management of the outstanding traditional wineries Mayer am Pfarrplatz and Rotes Haus has delivered a brilliant start. Owner Hans Schmid has accounted for his great vineyard sites by firstly investing into the cellar at Pfarrplatz; thus the wines can once again be vinificated under the managing director, Willi Balanjuk, at the winery. At the traditional address `Pfarrplatz 2´ in Nussdorf, the Viennese wines undergo an ambitious vinification and maturation procedure in order to fully unveil their typical aromas. Already, the first vintage was awarded several prestigious prizes: Mayer am Pfarrplatz won the Regional Competition with its Gemischter Satz Ried Nussberg 2006 which was also admitted to the selective circle Salon Österreichischer Wein. The Yellow Muscat 2006 won the Viennese Wine Prize. The Rote Haus won the first prize with the Nussberger Edellage Gemischter Satz Reserve 2006 at the “Der Wein 07” from Biosphärenpark Wienerwald. With 94 points, the Rotes Haus Grüner Veltliner 2006 was Grand-Cru-Winner of the A la Carte-magazine.
A new spirit with tradition
The excellent ranking shows that a fresh, future-oriented spirit has entered the traditional vaults in Nussdorf, which shall attract both, the Viennese and tourists, to visit the Heurigen-district; and last but not least, even Beethoven lived in this house – and it was there where the famous `Gemischter Satz,´ which the House Mayer vinificated as `Alter Satz,´ took off on its triumphant course. It is, in any case, a new and yet traditional spirit which defines the moderately modern appearance of the outstanding Mayer am Pfarrplatz. The investments taken are designed to further improve the quality brought into the bottle; the new label only stands for the external appearance. It is of much more significance that any importance is attached to the wines and their development, as the excellent rankings of the 2006 vintage already show. According to managing director, Willi Balanjuk, those rewards are "not regarded as exceptional. We will strive to maintain this high level with the 2007 vintage."
Rotes Haus in the Fallstaff Weinguide-magazine 2007/2008
