Werlitsch "Morillon"

Grape: Morillon aka Chardonnay

Region: South Styria, Austria

Ewald Tscheppe makes some of the most distinctive and expressive white wines in Austria. He biodynamically farms 8 hectares of vines in the southern part of Styria - a region famous for its ‘opok’ (limestone rich clay) soils. The winemaking culture in this mountainous part of Austria can be traced all the way back to Roman times, and the region has some of the oldest Sauvignon Blanc plantings outside of France. The wines are textural, complex and remarkably long living. Ewald’s Ex Vero series is emblematic of his winemaking philosophy. ‘Ex Vero’ means ‘from truth’ in Latin and captures Ewald’s primary concern - to make honest, authentic wines that capture a sense of place. The three wines in the series come from three diferent vineyard sites planted on a limestone rich slope with an impressive diversity of soil types. The base of the hillside consists of more fertile clay soils, whereas the steeper, elevated sites have poorer soils that produce later maturing, more tightly wound wines. Most of Ewald’s wines are blends of Sauvignon Blanc and Morillon (Austrian name for Chardonnay), and are aged for at least 22 months in large oak barrels. The long ageing is an integral part of Ewald’s winemaking style and brings out the unique, terroir - driven character of his wines.

The fruit is de-stemmed, and spontaneously fermented. It is then aged 300 - 3000l used oak barrels for 18 months. This is a powerful wine yet balanced wine, with mineral drive and great depth of fruit.