Estates
Heiss
in Neusiedlersee, Burgenland, Austria
Franz Heiss is arguably one of the best vintners of late harvest wines in the Burgenland region, and also probably the least known. This is a man whose dedication to exacting production methods have kept him as far away from any kind of publicity, promotion, or dog-and-pony show as possible. He's hanging with the grapes instead of kissing sommelier ass. Furthermore, winemonger is the very first to import his wines into the United States, so up to now he has not been recognized in the local cork-dork magazines (while the respected Austrian Falstaff guide has been awarding him points in the mid-90's for years now) A secret, though: he has supplied wines to fill the bottles of a certain other more famous dessert wine vintner. But we won't kiss and tell.
Which is all to say: buy it now or pay more later. The man has only 25 acres of vines (made up of loamy soil mixed with stones, by the by) with an annual production of 25,000 bottles, 50% white, 25% red, and 25% sweet (for those not quick with the math, that's 6250 bottles of dessert wine.) Assume that not every bottle gets exported to the U.S., and think for a moment about just how many people there are here. Supply and demand will take their toll. And with a Sauvignon Blanc Beerenauslese that has been aged in the leguminous acacia-wood barrel, or an Eiswein from the red Austrian varietal Blaufränkisch, demand is going to be high.
Wines by Heiss
