'Josephine'

 

Blaufränkisch & Roesler, Burgenland, Austria

Gut Oggau winemakers Stephanie & Eduard Tscheppe are deeply adored by natural wine lovers the whole world over and deserve every last iota of praise & reverence they receive! The fabric of the wines hinges upon the existence of a fictional family, with every vineyard plot being characterized by one of its members. Sometimes the cleverness of this device can call attention away from how consistently elegant, bewitching & functional these wines truly are, and either way, the Gut Oggau fam is way more than a cutesy gimmick— it’s a progressive and anti-patriarchal language for thinking about wine emotionally & intuitively, which we are way here for.

Josephine is Timotheus’ second wife (little is known about Tim’s elusive first wife! We hope she makes a dramatic return in wine form at some point in the nearer-than-usual future!) & Winifred’s stepmom. She radiates big time coolest mom-ever vibes, the kind of woman you’re seated next to at a dinner party & she smells really good & all you want in the world is to be taken under her wing & then grow up to be her. Her namesake wine is dense & intense; classic Josephine to be half-vinified from an obscure & esoteric wine grape— Roesler is a cross between Blau & Zweigelt, known for its deep colour & abundant extract.

Josephine is a study in abundance, with low-key Port-adjacent resignation & a wild gnarly nose calling back to Jo’s tempestuous youth, which we’re sure was chock-a-block with sexy backpacking-related misadventures. Tastes more like a cherry than a cherry, full-bodied but perfectly balanced with a zingy acidity that hits like a perfectly-timed joke. Grapes are hand-harvested, destemmed, & fermented in oak, then aged in barrel for an additional eight months. Unfined, unfiltered, no sulfur. Mulled strawberry meets beet puree, sharp fang tannins, horses in a field of herbs, prune juice, rocky shore & a lactic ease that wraps all the way ‘round your senses.