Winemonger.com

The Umriss vineyard, with its meager, chalky soils, produces beautifully ripe grapes year in and out, with yields kept low after rigorous selection. The wine stays 2 weeks on the lees after fermentation in order to pull out all of the fruit aromas and tannins. Then, in large wood casks, it goes through biological malolactic before being moved into barriques (20% new) for another 9 to 12 months. Drink now, or let it cellar for another 10 years while it develops and weaves its fruit and spice notes into an even more complex and elegant wine.

• 100 % - Blaufrankisch (AKA Lemberger, Blauer Limberger, Kekfrankos)

The town of Rust is perhaps best known for its world-class late harvest wines, a specialty of which is known here as Ruster Ausbruch. The "Ruster" describes that it is from this town, and the “Ausbruch” describes the method of only picking out the most perfectly shriveled & botrysized grapes. Why are the wines from here so incredible? It might have something to do with the fact that in 1681 Rust was proclaimed a Free Town of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and this distinction came at a steep price: 10,000 liters of the Ruster Ausbruch wine had to be sent to the royalty every year. A practice for survival became the practice of something spectacular.

The Feiler-Artinger winery was established in Rust in the early 1900’s by Gustav and Karoline Feiler. After the second world war, they were the first to restart the tradition of harvesting grapes afflicted with noble rot for the production of Ausbruch. In 1955 Gustav's son Hans took the reins and steered things well, and since 1994 the third generation, in the form of Hans' eldest son Kurt, has stepped into line. Their work has not gone unnoticed; in 1999 Hans and Kurt were jointly declared “Late Harvest Wine Makers of the Year” at the Wine Challenge in London, and Robert Parker Jr. of the Wine Advocate rates the winery as among Austria's best producers (giving it 4 1/2 out of 5 stars) In fact, critics from Wine Advocate to Wine Spectator have consistently rated these wines in the 90's. The winery has 64 acres with an annual production of 12,500 cases; 30% white, 55% red, and 15% sweet.

As Hans puts it: “I strongly believe that harmony in the family brings harmony to the wines.” This must be one happy family.

The west side of the lake... The Austrian wine establishment has now begun to call this region Leithaberg, after the local hillsides themselves, although it is hard to imagine winegrowing in this region without the benificent influence of the lake. The free city of Rust has been famous for its sweet wines for centuries, now producing memorable reds and dry whites as well. The towns of St Margarethen, Donnerskirchen and Grosshöflein are all proving to be sources of excellent grapes from the varieties Blaufränkisch and St Laurent, as well as for the more surprising Sauvignon Blanc. The major municipality Eisenstadt is the capital of Burgenland; the area has been settled since the early Iron Age, and evidence of viticulture exists in Celtic hill burials from nearly three thousand years ago.