Age of Vines: 40 years

Varieties: Cabernet Franc

Vinification Method: Grapes are hand harvested, destemmed, and crushed by foot. The juice ferments in large barrels with indigenous yeast and no racking. It spends 1 year aging in large Stockinger barrels and is bottled without fining or filtering and no addition of sulfur. Bottled in magnum only.

Christian Tschida (pronounced like cheetah) has the great fortune to cultivate 10 hectares of old vines that have been in his family for 4 generations, since the 19th century. The winery is located in the Neusiedler See part of Burgenland, the eastern most point of Austria, more traditionally known for red and sweet wine production. The vineyards consist of sandy gravel, schist and limestone, and all enjoy a moderating influence from the extremely large and nearby Lake Neusiedler. Christian takes a hands off approach to winemaking, and the wines spend a great deal of time in barrel in contact with oxygen, some for as many as 5 years before bottling. Christian ferments all of his wines in closed top tanks that sit in the shade outside, in which the grapes are foot stomped, and then the juice is moved inside to barrel for aging. Many of the wines receive zero sulfur additions, except some of the reds, which Christian feels benefit from a small dose of sulfur at bottling.