Funkstille, Skin Contact, Niederösterreich, Austria, 2023

Producer Profile

Now more than ever we need a little ‘Funkstille’ or radio silence in our lives, so it was only natural that as interest and desire for Austrian wines grew, so would our range.

It all started with Grüner, then Zweigelt and now Funkstille is a quintet including Riesling, a Skin Contact wine and now Blaufränkisch … capturing Austria’s most famous varieties and archetypal styles under some eye-popping packaging. We’ve worked with a 16th generation producer in Niederösterreich to put together this characterful range. All work in the vineyard is carried out sustainably, with the use of their own fertilisers made from grape skins, manure and straw from their fields, to improve the soil structure and vitality of their vines. The south-east and south-west exposure of the slopes provides conditions for perfect ripening. Grapes are harvested in the early morning to harness acidity and pure fruit expression, and taken to their energy neutral winery for vinification.

Viticulture

Sustainably certified by agroVet, they also produce their own fertiliser. They produce their own seeds to sew cover crops in the vineyards and use straw from the fields in the young vineyards to protect the vines from dry stress. The grapes are harvested carefully, early in the morning by hand and machine from 15 year + old trellis grown vines in Weinviertel within the Niederösterreich region which are sited on loess, clay, granite mix soils and where the climate is cool continental. Vineyards are sited at approximately 230 to 300m ASL and are mostly orientated South, South East and South West, on terraces with an incline of between 10 and 40 degrees.

Winemaking

The winery is energy neutral, producing energy from their Biogas plant and a Photovoltaic system which produces more energy than is required. The grapes are pressed and left in contact with the skins to extract the orange colour and additional flavour compound, then the must is fermented in stainless steel tank with selected yeasts for 15 to 25 days at controlled temperatures which get warmer the nearer they get to the end of fermentation. There is no malolactic fermentation but the wine benefits from 8 weeks of lees contact. Gentle fining and cold stabilisation.

Oak Ageing

Time: 6 Months
Type: French
% wine oaked: 50
% new oak: None

Tasting Note

Dark yellow with light orange reflexes. Fully ripe dried tropical fruit, charming Veltliner spice and well balanced and a light tannic structure.

Food Matching

Perfect with roasted vegetables, Alpine cheese such as Comte or Gruyere or even risotto bianco.

Awards