2018 Maurer Kadarka 1880

When we first visited Oszkár Maurer in 2015, he only had a few wines to show. Since then, he expanded his production into the Fruška Gora, opened a tasting room/restaurant, and redefined what many of these nearly forgotten grapes taste like, while always keeping a close eye on the traditions of both his grandparents and the region's 2000+ years of documented winemaking history. His aesthetic and philosophy are starting to permeate everything above and beyond the vineyards and cellar.

VINEYARDS

The Maurer family has been producing wine for four generations. They now farm 6 hectares in the Subotičko – Horgoškoj region in northern Serbia including the oldest known Kadarka vineyard in the world planted in 1880 in addition to other plantings in 1912 and older plots of Kövidinka from 1925. The rest of the plantings include grapes like OIaszrizling, Slankamenka, Ezerjó, Kadarka and Kékfrankos. There’s also few international varieties including Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Pinot Noir. The region was formerly a part of Hungary’s Csongrád up until 1920. The population is mostly Hungarian and viticulture knows no borders. Names of grapes and places are therefore constantly changing from Serbian to Hungarian and vice-versa. Oszkár farms about 6 hectares here Oszkár also has 9 hectares in the Srem region a little further south. The main feature, apart from the Danube River, is the Fruška Gora Mountain. Once an island in the Pannonian Sea, the soil is volcanic with a marine layer. Called the “holy mountain” or “Serbian Athos”, there were over 30 monasteries at one point, of which 16 still stand today. Needless to say, there is something special about this place and winegrowing is documented back to the 1200s. The Subotičko is largely defined by sandy soils and old vines, and the Szerémség by volcanic soils heavily influenced by the Danube River. Everything is farmed organically with zero absorbable chemicals. High density stake trained vines are the most typical and cover crops are natural. Everything is worked by hand or with the help of horses. Harvest is managed with local labor and the help of family and friends.

WINE MAKING

Everything is handpicked in small bins and all fermentations are spontaneous (primary and secondary). The use of older oak, small and large format is paramount. There are no additives to any of the wines apart from SO2 at bottling for select wines. Maurer basically has two tiers: Rege and Maurer. The Rege wines have low SO2 (25-40ppm) and the Maurer line is zero compromise with zero additions of any kind. Wines are typically only racked once before bottling and everything is bottled unfiltered.

NOTES & PAIRINGS

This is the oldest known vineyard of Kadarka in the world. Planted in Pannonian sand, bush trained, and surrounded by fruit trees, they look like old hands reaching out of quicksand. Only farmed by human and horse. Oszkár also believes that constant selection massale is they key to Kadarka. It needs to be tweaked and worked on like a high performance race car. The clones here are thicker skinned than the rest of his Kadarka, and there’s a little Vadfekete in the vineyard as well (botrytis resistant and dark berry). Fermented with native yeast in open va, barreled down to old Hungarian oak, and bottled unfined and unfiltered. It smells and tastes like fall, has a botrytis affected nose, bone dry, lively acidity, and is truly one of the most unique red wines in our portfolio. Always limited in quantity.

ANALYTICS & PRONUNCIATION

APPELLATION: Sremska
GRAPE COMPOSITION: 100% Kadarka
CLIMATE: Mild and temperate
SOILS: Sand
MACERATION & AGING: Fermented in open vat and aged in big old oak casks for 12 months
ALCOHOL: 13%
RESIDUAL SUGAR: 0.52 g/l
ACIDITY: 5.56 g/l