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Weingut Edgar Brutler "Sefu Red" 2022 Crișana, Romania

Weingut Edgar Brutler "Sefu Red" 2022 Crișana, Romania

Regular price $24.00 USD
Regular price Sale price $24.00 USD
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1000ml bottle

11% abv

APPELLATION: Crișana

GRAPE COMPOSITION: Pinot Noir and Syrah

CLIMATE: Continental (hot summers & cold winters)

SOILS: Clay, loam, sand

MACERATION & AGING: Direct pressed Pinot noir aged in a 3000L stainless steel tank. Syrah is kept on the skins with stems for 3 days, then matured in 4 x 500L oak barrels.

RESIDUAL SUGAR: 1.04 g/l

ACIDITY: 6.56 g/l

The Sefu Red is a blend of Pinot Noir and Syrah. The Pinot Noir is treated much like the Sefu white – pressed hard to avoid solids, bad tannins and reduction, and then settled out for 24 hours. It’s then fermented in one 3000L stainless steel tank and six 500L oak barrels. The Syrah is whole bunch pressed into open vats, macerated for three days, and right as fermentation starts to kick off, it’s pressed and fermented in four 500L oak barrels and three 225L oak barrels. Bottled unfined and unfiltered with the only addition being 15ppm of total SO2.

Transylvania has always been a bit of white whale for us. This is where horse carts often outnumber cars and self-sufficient agriculture is the norm. Literally translating to "beyond the forest," it also has an unbroken winegrowing tradition going back at least 2000+ years. It’s a surreal place where the language is Balkan Romance, the food is Hungarian with some key distinctions, and where the imprints of both the Middle Ages and Communism are frozen in time. Weingut Edgar Brutler is our first Romanian producer. The family was a part of the Swabian migration to Transylvania and arrived in the 1850s from Stuttgart. Edgar originally started down a musical path then studied oenology at Geisenheim because of the Romanian family vineyard. As Edgar puts it, “I was born there, my family lived there, my family worked these vineyards and walked this roads and paths.” Music still plays a big part in his life and an image of sound board levels adorn the label of the Grünspitz. Founding Weingut Edgar Brutler in 2018, his focus is on organic farming, native grapes, old vine field blends, and making wines based on smelling, tasting, and feeling rather than numbers and analytics.

VINEYARDS: In 2022 the Brutler family started a new project called “Sefu” thanks to a long-term relationship with a local farmer and friend named Laci Hetei. Not just a farmer, but a man whose wife went to school with Edgar’s mother and who also happens to remind Edgar of his grandfather. Laci, now in his early 60’s suffers from a great love of growing grapes, so much so that he’s planted far too many in a special place just outside the village called ‘Uj Hegy.” The name is from the Hungarian “new slope,” and is roughly 8 hectares of deep loam planted to wide variety of grapes ranging from Chardonnay, Riesling, Furmint, Tămâioasă Românească, Syrah, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Pinot Noir, and Fetească Neagră to name a few. So what is Sefu? Literally it translates to “boss” or “chief.” As Edgar put it, “This is the taste of our region. Rustic, acidic and pure.” Supporting the growth of Edgar’s production, Laci’s tireless efforts in the vineyard, and being able to share it all with a much larger audience is our collective goal.

WINEMAKING: Given his formal education at Geisenheim and working at larger more technical wineries, Edgar has a firm grasp of the science and the predetermined recipes needed for those kinds of wines. It’s also incredibly useful information when stripping everything away and has allowed him to open up his mind, take risks, and activate the same part of his brain that brings him joy from music. Except for his pét-nat where he measures density to ensure bottles aren’t exploding, he’s not picking, pressing or doing anything based on the numbers. All wines are spontaneously fermented in a 200 year old cellar, unfiltered, and the only addition is SO2 (10-20ppm) at bottling and many are without any additions at all. He’s also adamant about the control and feedback from using a basket press. Especially for the Grünspitz where a long and high pressure pressing is essential in managing the tannins and extraction. There’s no cell phone reception or internet in the cellar. Deep and quiet.

 – Importer notes

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