2022 Szerémi Zöld

Planted in 1909, this was once one of the most well-known and high quality grapes in the then Hungarian Empire up until phylloxera nearly wiped it out. Whether originating in current day Romania (Arad/Banat) or in the area now shared by Croatia (Srijem), Serbia (Srem) and Hungary (Szerém), it’s still incredibly rare. In Hungary, there is a reported 0.1 ha. We know there’s more in Romania (aka Grünspitz) because we import one of the two existing vineyards courtesy of Edgar Brutler. Maurer arguably has the oldest vines which just turned 115 years old this year. The grapes were hand harvested, destemmed, left on the skins for 3 days, and then fermented and aged in 15 year old 350L oak barrels for 12 months. Bottled by gravity with zero additions. This is more in the vein of Karom in terms of skin maceration (much lighter), and also devoid of botrytis. This is one of the most naked in terms of grape to place among Oszkár’s white wines.