2017 Karner Gábor & Fanni Tavasz
Matrá, Hungary
2017
100% Kékfrankos
Continental (hot summers & cold winters)
Andesite, red clay, and chalk
2 weeks on the skins then 1.5 years in 500L Hungarian Oak
13.5%
0.9 g/l
6.2 g/l
Notes & Pairings
In the same way I’m hoping to avoid generic “orange” wine, the same goes for zero zero reds. Gábor has been making natural wine for over 20 years (organic farming and only adding SO2) but it wasn’t until the 2017 vintage that he decided to omit SO2 as well. Heavily influenced by winemakers like Zsolt Sütó of Strekov 1075 and Oszkár Maurer, he realized that it was the next step he and Fanni wanted to take. According to Gábor, “Sulfur kills the tiny happiness fairies who live inside the wine.” For Fanni, the wines began to remind her of “forest spring water.” The vines of Tavasz are over 60 years old, west facing, and planted in clay heavy forest soils. The 2017 spent 2 weeks on the skins then 1.5 years in 500L Hungarian Oak. Bottled unfined and unfiltered by gravity with zero additions, they also omit pumps and stainless steel. This is not a wine chasing trend, but the result of decades of conviction.
