Steiermark trip, allocation Bohème and Matassa, and new wines to discuss
Dear wine lovers,
We have arrived in June: the month of the longest days, the official start of summer and the birthdays of the Gemini and Cancer within the Zuiver team. In May, Dick, Dana, Job and Olivier went to Austria for an inspiring trip along our producers in Burgenland, Steiermark and of course the wine fair Karakterre , where we were able to taste fantastic wines, and which we would like to tell you more about in this newsletter.
This month also sees the distribution of the Bohème and Matassa allocations, with both beautifully aged wines and crisp 2024s. In addition, at the end of the month we are organizing a Dim Sum Sunday together with Cornerstore , where Team Choux will cook together with the Cornerstore team, and we will serve a wide selection of Nevel beers .
Finally, several new shipments arrived last month, which we would like to inform you about. Read below for all the wine news and the travel report.
ALLOCATION OF MATASSA AND DOMAINE LA BOHÈME
Traditionally, this month we will distribute the allocations of the new vintage and a number of matured wines from Tom Lubbe of Matassa . In addition, we have attached a distribution of a number of domain wines from Justine Loiseau & Patrick Bouju of Domaine La Bohème .
Tasting Cailloux with Justine Loiseau, and the Blossom 2024 still safely in the barrel
In addition to the arrival of Olla Blanc and Marguerite 2024, we will also make limited(er) quantities of cuvées Blossom 2024, Tommy Ferriol 2024 and French Disko 2022 from Matassa available. And for the enthusiast, we also secretly have a tail of Alexandria 2023 in stock.
The estate wines of the duo behind Domaine La Bohème will also be available with this allocation round. In general, the couple produces a wide range of beautiful wines from fruit that they harvest themselves in all corners of France , but their absolute masterpieces come from the fruit from their own vineyards in the Auvergne. We have limited quantities of cuvée Cailloux (100% Pinot Noir d'Auvergne) and cuvée Lulu (100% Gamay d'Auvergne, made in amphora) available for the enthusiastic interested. These two wines, plus the obscure cuvée Niglo (from our own, horse-worked vineyards in the Beaujolais), have been matured for almost two years and are now drinking beautifully.
We will dedicate a separate email to the distribution and official release of the above in mid-June, but as usual we also always have plenty of cuvées from Matassa and Domaine La Bohème available on the website, for the thirsty enthusiast, or for anyone for whom the distributed wines leave you wanting more.
REPORT AUSTRIA 1/4: VISIT MEINKLANG
Two weeks ago, Dick, Job and Dana visited natural wine producer Meinklang , located in the village of Pamhagen in the Austrian Burgenland, on the southeastern side of Lake Neusiedl, close to the Hungarian border. The estate now covers some 2,500 hectares of regeneratively and biodynamically managed land, of which some 90 hectares are used for viticulture. The rest of the vast area is used for biodynamic cattle and pig farming, the cultivation of cereals, vegetables and fruit, and the management and conservation of 'wild' land and forest.
Werner Michlits in the biodynamic lettuce garden at Meinklang in Pamhagen, Burgenland
We were welcomed by Werner Michlits and his wife Angela, who jointly head the winemaking division. Werner gave us a tour of the estate, the winemaking facilities and the extensive vegetable garden. The entire company – just like Werner and Angela themselves – breathes sustainability, thoughtfulness and a deep respect for nature, people and animals. It feels like Meinklang succeeds in finding the right balance between living according to biodynamic principles and values, while at the same time making the economic choices that are necessary to remain healthy as a company. They show that biodynamic farming is possible on a larger scale, and in this way make their healthy products accessible to a wide audience.
During a healthy and tasty lunch – of course prepared with ingredients from their own garden and stable and with bread from their own grains – Angela, Werner's wife, together with Mary, took care of the tasting. They are, together with Werner, closely involved in the winemaking process and let us taste both new vintages of modern classics and the orange Mulatschak , as well as the new vintage of Epic , even richer and more flowery than the previous one, the special Foam Vulkan with a new label, and the gigantic delicious orange Pinot Gris called Graupert , from unpruned orchards. They also tasted the limited available wines that are made in self-cast concrete eggs, such as the beautiful Tag – and Nacht -cuvées.
In addition to the wines, several non-alcoholic drinks were tasted, made with grape juice and their own herbs, which Angela and Mary are currently experimenting with. We sincerely hope that we can add these drinks to the range soon, but more about that later. For now, we would like to refer you to our website for the current availability of Meinklang, and to the extensive producer profile on our website for more information, written following our previous visit.
REPORT AUSTRIA 2/4: VISIT MUSTER
After lunch the journey continued via Hungary to the south of Styria, for a visit to the estate of Maria & Sepp Muster . Their beautiful farm called 'Graf' is situated on the Schlossberg, a hill in the middle of the steep Opok vineyards planted with Morillon (Chardonnay) and Sauvignon Blanc. It exudes, just like the Musters themselves, a peaceful tranquility and calm. The orchards were vibrantly green and alive and Sepp explained that healthy soil is by far the most important factor: if there is life in the soil, it leads to vitality in the plant and ultimately in every bottle of wine.
Tasting with Sepp Muster, Schlossberg, Südsteiermark
After a short tour through the vineyards surrounding the estate, the tasting started with a barrel sample of Elias Musters' latest creation called Omnia 2023, a wine made from Sauvignon Blanc and Muskat, and a tasting sip of the new vintage Coprivus 2023. Both wines were bursting with energy, and blind the second wine could have easily passed as a white Jura from one of our favorite producers. Unlike many of his peers, Elias is in no hurry to bottle, and the longer maturation will only benefit these two wines. After Elias' wines, all (!) cuvées were tasted with Sepp, and of some even multiple vintages were opened to show the influence of the climatic conditions.
What is very clear with the wines of the Musters is that the unique combination of acids, fruit and Opok minerality continues to surprise and never bores. Among others, the Sauvignon vom Opok 2021 , full of salty minerality, and the floral Gelber Muskateller vom Opok 2021 (which we currently still have in stock) gave a good dose of energy, and the 2022 Rosé with a tiny bit of volatility made everyone smile. The bigger wines, such as Gräfin , Sgaminegg and Erde , were also fantastic, and it was very clear that these wines have only become more impressive with age and all have long lives ahead of them.
REPORT AUSTRIA 3/4: VISIT WERLITSCH & STROHMEIER
The next day, a visit to the biodynamic Ex Vero vineyards of Brigitte & Ewald Tscheppe from Weingut Werlitsch was on the agenda, where a climb up the steep slopes could not be missed. The vegetation between the rows of vines on the steep slopes is mown as little as possible, and when it is mown, it is done alternately, so that biodiversity is preserved as much as possible. As with the Musters, the Tscheppes work with a relatively high trellis system, which allows the vines to root deeply and grow freely upwards. This reduces the risk of mildew, which can easily strike, especially in the early morning when the fog hangs low. Ewald talked about the challenges on these slopes: in 2023, for example, he had to deal with partial landslides due to soil erosion, and in order to drain the water better, an ingenious system of buried pipes was installed. Fortunately, the damage was limited and the healthy vegetation of the orchards helps to retain the topsoil.
Ex Vero II and at the top Ex Vero III by Brigitte & Ewald Tscheppe from Weingut Werlitsch, Südsteiermark
After a serious walk through the vineyards, the wines from the 2023 vintage were tasted. Despite the difficult year with a lot of cold and rain, the fermentations went surprisingly smoothly, which has ensured that the Welschriesling, Sauvignon and Morillon vom Opok 2023 come out of the bottle precisely, soft and accessible, while retaining the lively fresh acidity and characteristic Opok minerality. A number of 2021s were also tasted, which - as with several producers in the region - did not ferment out completely. Because Ewald, like other natural wine producers (such as his brother Andreas), does not want to add anything to the wines, he has chosen to bottle these wines – just like in 2017 – after a longer period in barrels with a crown cork and to provide them with the designation 'S', which can be interpreted as 'stecken geblieben', 'super', 'süss' 'stchöpfergeist' ('creative spirit') or whatever 's' the drinker wants to hang on it. These wines need a little more time to settle down, but the tasted result was stunning: both the Ex Vero IS and the Ex Vero II S are enormously expressive, with lots of stony minerality in the nose, a hint of honey, a soft aroma and a serious texture. We still have a few bottles of this last special wine available, and we expect to receive the other tasted wines from the 2022 and 2023 vintages in the course of this year.
The talk at the pond at Franz Strohmeier, at the bottom of one of his vineyards…
The second part of the day was dedicated to an event organized by Franz Strohmeier for his importer friends from Europe and America. While enjoying Franz' wines and a gigantic delicious lunch, cooked by Milan Gataric from Restaurant Lux , a relaxed conversation about life, wines and philosophy was held – at the pond in his vineyard. Many different vintages of old Strohmeier, swimming in the pond and even a sauna session followed; life could be worse… Good to mention that the screamingly delicious new vintage of Schiller Frizzante, which was temporarily sold out, is back in stock, and can be ordered online again as soon as possible!
REPORT AUSTRIA 4/4: TASTING WITH NEW PRODUCER BENCZE BIRTOK, ANDI MANN, SLOBODNE AND IL CEO ON CHARACTER
During the weekend, the Karakterre fair was visited, where we could mainly taste at the Zuivere producers. We also met István Bencze of Bencze Birtok , the newest addition to the Zuivere portfolio. Olivier and Dick had met István before, but since we have been working with his wines since this year, the whole team was very curious to taste the full line-up side by side, under the guidance of István and his partner Klaudia.
Since 2011, István has been making wine around the iconic Szent György-hegy (St. George’s Hill) , a volcanic hill northwest of Lake Balaton in western Hungary. The volcanic soil gives his grapes a distinct minerality. His cuvées have acquired cult status in the natural wine world, and it quickly became clear why during tasting: his wines radiate pure energy. By harvesting early, they remain light and low in alcohol. They are aged in amphorae, stainless steel, concrete and old wooden barrels — ensuring that the wines are made without fuss. They almost always taste of pure grape juice, and not of wood or other artificial influences.
István often applies aging sur lie , which provides extra complexity and aging potential. Vinification with whole bunches and skin contact gives the wines structure, depth and a refined, aromatic fruit character. The result is pure terroir wines with an exceptionally high drinkability. Together with István we tasted, among others, the white/light orange Autochton White , his chic Kéknyelű , the rocket of a volcanic light red Autochton Red , and the precise, berry Kékfrankos 2022 with only 11% alcohol. All wines are characterized by a good acidity, salty minerals and soft aromas, and radiate enormous life energy.
The first shipment of Bencze's wines has arrived and has been flying off the shelves for the past month and a half - without us making any noise about it. Everything we still have available is now on the website . We also expect a number of extra cuvées sometime this summer, including some very exclusive wines, such as his slightly oxidative Chenin Blanc, the bush vine wine Kadarka and his various Pinot Noirs.
Tasting with Klaudia and István Bencze at Karakterre
We also tasted the new wines from Andi Mann from Rheinhessen, including the new Müller-Thurgau in a litre bottle — the house wine of the Mann family. The wine was wonderfully fresh and slightly floral, and would not look out of place as a house wine on many restaurant menus thanks to its excellent price-quality ratio. The affordable litre bottle rosé Rosa X also passed by: bursting with cranberry, strawberry and raspberry aromas.
Andi has given his 2023 Weiss cuvée a bit of an update starting this month. The wine is now called Weiss Mischkultur , to indicate that his white blend isn’t “just” a white blend like many of his fellow regional wines. He said that customers and drinkers often say they’ve had the German natural “Weiss” before, but Andi is keen to point out that every wine is different, and his wine is different from the wines of his fellow regional wines. Semantics are important — but the fact that his 2023 Weiss tastes fantastic seemed even more important to us. The 2023 Weiss Mischkultur is a bit lighter than the 2022 , and is made from direct-pressed Riesling, Bacchus, Würzer, and Scheurebe.
Our friends from Slobodne in Slovakia were of course also present at Karakterre. Together with Agnes and Andrea, we had the chance to taste the latest vintages just before placing our new order. For example, the Smetana 2022 will soon be back. This wine tasted remarkably tropical — think pineapple and mango summer juice — despite the fact that it is made exclusively from Veltlin (the Slovakian variant of Grüner Veltliner).
The third edition of crowd-pleaser Majer Blanc is again fresh, energetic and attractively priced, and is certainly not inferior to the previous vintage. A bit more serious in character is Partisan Cru 2021, a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling, matured in wood and terracotta. The wine has that characteristic Slobodne citrus note, but is distinguished above all by its gastronomic depth and complexity.
In the rosé segment, we then tasted the Rebela Rosa 2024 — a spicy, powerful super-rosé that surprises and reassures at the same time. Ideal for the terrace. Furthermore, the longer-matured top cuvées Cutis Deviner 2019 and Cutis Pinoter 2020 made a deep impression: wines full of flavor, energy and tension. Their aromatic power and dynamism inevitably bring to mind the best bottles from Styria. The new Slobodne wines have in any case been ordered and we expect to be able to offer them from next month.
In addition to our Central European friends and producers, Davide and Francesca from Il Ceo were also present — earlier this month we already paid attention to the arrival of their 2023s. At Karakterre we tasted Vespri Frizzante and Rosé Frizzante 2023 again , and we had the chance to rediscover the insanely delicious orange Togo 2023 (mainly Vespaiola, with a bit of Pedevenda and Friulano) and the red Toro . We said it quietly there — at a wine fair full of Central and Eastern European heroes — but to be honest: Davide's wines stood out. The freshness, energy and precision with which he works, lift the wines to a level that really stands out. A new order has been placed immediately, so that we can continue to pour and, importantly, drink the duo's wines for the rest of the summer.
SHORT WINE NEWS
After our visit to Catalonia in March, we discussed the wines of Matthias from La Forastera in the previous newsletter . Good news: they are now really available. There are a number of new wines available, such as the salty orange Soltera (Parellada with five weeks of skin contact), Seu i Beu (light orange Macabeu), the new vintage of the easily digestible, fresh Cul Inquiet, and the somewhat spicier El Pellut . Matthijs' ancestral range has also been expanded, including La Sogra — a rosé pét-nat of 70% Macabeu (with two weeks of skin contact) and 30% Sumoll. If you are interested, please send us a message; not all wines are yet on the website due to limited shelf space in the store, but we are happy to send a bottle to the store for anyone who is interested.
The same transport also carried the orange wines of Amós Bañeres . The sharply priced Hey! is back, as is a new vintage of the Missatge and Ampolla .
Good news from Emilia-Romagna: the enigmatic Giulio Armani of Denavolo sent a large shipment our way. Catevela 2023 and Dinavolino 2022 are almost available again, and for the enthusiasts, a limited amount of Gate 2021 from Shun Minowa has also arrived. If there is interest in the new wine from Shun Minowa, let us know - we will try to set a bottle aside.
Clos du Tue-Bœuf 's Vin Blanc was sold out for a while, but is now widely available again in the 2024 version — and bursts with aroma, color and flavor from the bottle. The rest of the Puzelat sisters' 2024s will follow in part next month. Based on the Vin Blancs, the quality promises to be high, but the harvest was small due to extreme weather conditions — so expect limited availability of the 'bigger' wines.
From the Humus wine estate – owned by the ever-relaxed Portuguese Rodrigo Felipe – a good amount of wine has finally arrived. The new, slightly fuller white Branco , the floral Branco FLUI, his perfect barbecue rosé and the soft orange Curtimenta Curta 2023 are on the program. You suddenly feel like grabbing the surfboard and switching off your phone for a week.
Even though June feels like a strange time for robust Southern Italian wines, we are still looking forward to the characterful bottles of Natalino del Prete from Puglia. The Primitivo Natalì, Negroamaro Anne and Il Pioniere will soon be more widely available. However, the focus these months is more on the orange Moina from Malvasia Bianca and the rosé Il Prodigo. As far as we are concerned, the powerhouses can only really be released after the summer - and some extra bottle maturation. The prices are friendly as usual, and Dick would say: a lot of wine for your money.
The new Forasteras on the table in Guardiola de Font-Rubí, March 2025
DIM SUM SUNDAY WITH RESTAURANT CHOUX AND BEERS FROM NEVEL
That was quite a long text, but hopefully the wines will speak for themselves in the coming period. In any case, we are really looking forward to the month of June. Figo is on a well-deserved vacation after celebrating 10 years of Choux , but Dana, Job and Olivier are ready to help you find the right bottle or tell you about all the beautiful things that we will soon be distributing in the upcoming release.
And if we already make a small jump to July: on the 20th of that month, another Zuivere event classic is on the program, with ample amounts of (new!) wine from the Bini family by the glass, combined with a good plate of simple food from a popular chef. We can't wait.
For now: have fun discovering all the new things, and hopefully see you soon!
