Roter Eiswein, Familie Reinisch

About the wine

This Merlot Eiswein from Johanneshof Reinisch is a stunning dessert wine that, thanks to the Merlot grape, offers a berry fruit character that is rarely found in wine wines made via this magical method. Concentrated notes of cooking strawberries, raspberries and rose syrup are partnered with perfumed cranberries and blossom. The palate is sumptuous and sweet, like a nectar made from berry juice, but the Merlot Icewine is never overblown or sickly. The Reinisch brothers who produce this wine in Austria’s Thermenregion take great care to preserve the acidity in the bottle, ensuring it's always fresh and delicious. The perfect pairing to dark chocolate desserts, even better with some berries running through the dish. It would also be a fine match to a rich blue cheese.

Eisweins (or icewines) are one of the wine world’s great rarities. Even rarer still is an Eiswein made from the fickle Merlot grape. Eisweins can only be made in years when very specific conditions in the vineyard are met. The temperature must drop to below -9C in late December to early January and the grapes must not have been damaged beforehand. Frozen grapes are then picked and pressed extremely delicately so that the water, which freezes at a higher temperature than the juice, doesn’t make its way into the wine thus concentrating the sugars and the flavours.

About the wine

The three Reinisch brothers run the 40-hectare, organic Johanneshof Reinisch winery southeast of Vienna. True experts at their craft, they make a stunning range of wines from indigenous Austrian varieties and international grapes. Across the board their wines are precise, focussed and express great fruit purity. They also offer some of the best value wines that we sell.