harvest report

<p>All photos by Thomas R&ouml;ttinger:</p> <p><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//955/36/14/3614a3b3241a5fbe1dd216e2108e9825.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//955/07/87/0787bcc7abc7c601ad679d39edac98eb.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//955/84/69/84691dce91aa60524c40116825333b56.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//955/89/f6/89f6a525e10f5ae1ca06099dd6c26cb2.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//955/75/d2/75d2e9d31f82ddb19756c840aef2c735.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//955/e2/18/e2180a77d5e4054b9547655858da8d62.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//955/4c/68/4c68e5302ad4f532d036ff7149729a05.jpg" /><img src="https://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article//955/08/38/0838661e5636100fe3f0ea8a065c6fd3.jpg" /></p>

producers visit

<p><strong><em>This visit at Radoar took place in April, 2012.</em></strong></p> <p><strong><em>Words by Jules Dressner, photos by Lauren Feldman, Shawn Mead and Ian Becker.</em></strong></p> <p>In the mountain <glossary title="322">commune</glossary> of&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="438">Feldthurns</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> Norbert Blasbichler runs the Radoar farm.</p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_21//1a/4d/1a4dee403522047ffde9de203f3e0913.jpg" /><br /> <br /> While our visit obviously centered around visiting the vines and tasting in the&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="254">cellar</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> it&#39;s important to note that wine isn&#39;t what keeps the farm running: Norbert makes a living principally off growing&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Delicious" target="_blank">Golden Delicious</a>&nbsp;apples. He also raises cows, grows many other fruits, walnuts, cereals and of course grapes. There have been vines on the property for 200 years, but Norbert&#39;s passion for wine inspired him to take things further by independently <glossary title="185">bottling</glossary> and producing <glossary title="1026">terroir</glossary> and <glossary title="1071">varietal</glossary> specific&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="363">cuv&eacute;es</glossary><span>.</span></span></span><br /> <br /> The farm was started in 1300, and Norbert is the 15th generation of his family to work this land.&nbsp;<em>Radoar</em>&nbsp;comes from a local dialect, and means &quot;big round field&quot; (which explains the&nbsp;logo). Norbert took over in 1997, and immediately <glossary title="332">converted</glossary> the entire farm to <glossary title="746">organic</glossary> agriculture (certified by<strong>&nbsp;<glossary title="161">Bioland</glossary></strong>).&nbsp;<br /> <br /> After a quick hello, we set off to the vines.</p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_21//d3/ed/d3ed52175f4fd1f55669d91fa2ded0f7.jpg" /><br /> <br /> That&#39;s Norbert in the center, next to Kevin and Shawn.&nbsp;<br /> <br /> The main <glossary title="760">parcel</glossary> is about 1.5 km from the farm, and 900m in&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="419">elevation</glossary><span>!</span></span></span>&nbsp;</p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_21//f8/b8/f8b89971699faec6d5c97804dff442fd.jpg" /></p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_21//f8/82/f882215f9aadc613e56d47a7fcb1fe82.jpg" /></p> <p>On this&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="760">parcel</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> Norbert grows young&nbsp;<glossary title="564">Kerner</glossary>&nbsp;vines (up&nbsp;to 25 years old), 45 year old <glossary title="805">Pinot Noir</glossary> and 35 year old&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="1132">Zweigelt</glossary><span>.</span></span></span>&nbsp;</p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_21//25/dc/25dcbd43529874064dd62eac9c731c36.jpg" /><br /> <glossary title="1132"></glossary></p> <p><glossary title="1132">Zweigelt</glossary> is the most widely planted red grape in Austria, but very rare in Italy; Norbert actually owns the biggest <glossary title="1133">plot</glossary> in the entire country. It&#39;s actually a funny story: it was planted by Norbert&#39;s father by accident! He&#39;d ordered&nbsp;<glossary title="819">Portugeiser</glossary>&nbsp;but the nursery sent him the wrong&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="304">clone</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> By the time he&#39;d realized the mistake, it was too late...&nbsp;</p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_21//a7/e4/a7e44b29f13b049ae3efcaa8c20f6f7f.jpg" /></p> <p>In total, Norbert owns 2.5 <glossary title="523">hectares</glossary> of vines, 80% in white and 20% in red.&nbsp;<br /> <br /> We then drove back to the farm to taste some wines. One of Norbert&#39;s cats was just hanging out in the loose fissures of the old farm house.</p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_21//f7/46/f746edb2e69cbc2b0b2a4dbe1cd2270f.jpg" /></p> <p>The <glossary title="254">cellar</glossary> is right by the cow&#39;s stable.</p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_21//b2/54/b2543edf21f6a461b6ba6aa614d1006d.jpg" /><br /> <br /> It was tasting time!</p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_21//37/bc/37bc662c55ae8da3d292af1cdc6f8085.jpg" /><br /> <br /> Norbert made his first wine in 1999. For the whites, everything is <glossary title="392">direct pressed</glossary> then <glossary title="441">fermented</glossary> in&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="986">stainless steel</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> For the the &quot;Etza&quot;&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="363">cuv&eacute;e</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> he does two passes, more or less a week apart. We got to taste the 2011 results from both: the later pass is, unsurprisingly, richer and fatter with less&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="71">acidity</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> so the <glossary title="168">blend</glossary> creates a nice balance. Norbert also makes a sweeter <glossary title="564">Kerner</glossary> with intentional <glossary title="853">residual sugar</glossary> called &quot;Radoy&quot; (2020 note: this wine is still bottled but no longer a sweet wine). The 2010 I tasted at Villa Favorita had 35 grams of <glossary title="853">R.S&nbsp;</glossary>and was at about 7% alcohol. The reds are <glossary title="441">fermented</glossary> in <glossary title="986">stainless steel</glossary> then aged 22 months in&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="142">barrel</glossary><span>.</span></span></span>&nbsp;<br /> <br /> At some point during the tasting, someone asked Norbert if his kids had any interest in taking over the farm. He said that at the moment, the answer is a definite no!&nbsp;<br /> <br /> &quot;<em>But it&#39;s ok! They are young, and they need to find their own path in life. It wasn&#39;t obvious for me at first either, but I truly found my passion here. And you never know what will happen. If you had told me 15 years ago that a group of Americans from New York and San Francisco would come all the way up here to taste my wines, I wouldn&#39;t have believed you!</em>&quot;<br /> <br /> Norbert also makes an amazing&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="294">cider</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> peach and pear&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="934">schnaps</glossary><span>,</span></span></span> grappa, apple and walnut&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="975">spirits</glossary><span>.</span></span></span> He basically makes booze with everything he grows! Our group ended up buying a ton of it to drink on the trip and/or bring back home. Before leaving, we got to check out the beautiful, old&nbsp;<span class="zalup"><span><glossary title="394">distiller</glossary><span>.</span></span></span></p> <p><img src="http://louisdressner.com/uploads/images/article/2019_Aug_21//67/45/6745ad31bf9e856931c6be7b312b1358.jpg" /><br /> &nbsp;</p>