CHRISTIAN TSCHIDA
Austria, Burgenland

Christian Tschida cultivates 11 hectares of old vines in the national park Neusiedlersee in Burgenland in the eastern most part of Austria. The vines has been in his family for four generations with some of the main grapes being Riesling, Blaufränkisch, Pinot Blanc, Scheurebe, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grüner Veltliner, Zweigelt, Syrah and Cabernet Franc. The vineyards are dry farmed without chemicals and consists of sandy gravel, schist and limestone. They are influenced by the large nearby Neusiedler lake. Christian spends minimum time in the cellar, his focus is on the farming. The vineyards are overgrown with cover crops to preserve the biodiversity and force the vines to search deeper in the soil for nutrients.

At harvest time Christian is extremely meticulous about picking the grapes at exactly the right moment of ripeness, a decision he takes only by tasting the grapes. The grapes are then stomped by foot or pressed in a vertical basket press using a very light pressure which extracts only the best juice from the grapes. Fermentation takes places in closed tanks outside in the shade and then the juice is moved to 500-1500 litre barrels for aging inside the cellar. Racking is done by gravity and the wine is bottled by hand to preserve the freshness and leaving some residual carbon dioxide for preservation. All wines are unfined and unfiltered and since 2015 no sulfites are added at any stage of the winemaking.

The wines of Christian Tschida are impressively balanced with great aging potential, they are living wines, changing in the glass during the meal always challenging the drinker. They are characterised by soaring aromas, crazy textures and real finesse.