Borászportál Bormagazin
2023. november 27., 14:08
Years ago, Henrik Czurda presented domestic examples of German-style Rieslings, which were well received by both consumers and gastronomy. Domestic and international successes have followed, and the wine-loving public can be assured that they are buying a premium wine when they put one of Czurda’s Rieslings in their shopping basket.
For Henrik Czurda, the most important thing is that whoever buys his wine should always be sure that it is a high quality every year: a wine made from high quality ripe raw materials, with exceptional ageing potential due to its high acidity and sugar content, with notes of ripe fruit and mineral elegance. In 2022, the early harvest due to heavy rainfall – although resulting in a very nice wine – did not allow the usual aromatic Czurda style to develop, so the base material is not the Spätlese style Sweet Temptation, but a Brut Millésimé sparkling wine. The remaining wines from the 2021 vintage were quickly snapped up by a premium-loving class of wine lovers, and are now only available in a handful of top gastronomic restaurants.
The 2023 harvest was excellent: a warm summer, a long autumn and plenty of sunshine, together with a particular mesoclimate defined by cooler morning fog, all contributed to a brown coloration of the grapes, which thinned the skins slightly, losing moisture and providing the basis for a Spätlese with higher aromatics and a higher sugar content, but still with a nice acidity. In 2023, the Czurdas, after careful hand-selection, are working with a smaller but better than usual selection of raw materials.
CZURDA RIESLING Brut Millésimé, 2022 –
The 2022 is a ripe and impeccable base material with excellent acidity, which is why it is used to make a vintage sparkling wine. Produced using the méthode traditionelle and aged on the lees for a minimum of 36 months instead of the obligatory 12 months, it is made by the Sziget Sektkellerei in Gols, Burgenland, which uses years of experience and state-of-the-art technology to produce its sparkling wines, which are renowned throughout Europe. Brut Millésimé is already captivating in its character and vivacity, and promises to be a great Riesling bubbly.
Quality, trust and experience
From the very beginning, Czurda wines have won recognition among international experts and at wine competitions. Both styles won gold medals at the 2023 Berlin Wine Trophy and were selected as top wines by the international jury. And Jancis Robinson recently awarded the 2021 Riesling If you like it dry, a score that even excellent Mosel Rieslings don’t often achieve. Moreover, Jancis Robinson judged two vintages and gave both the same high score. This also shows that there is no fluctuation between vintages: Czurda Riesling is a consistent quality year after year.
According to Henrik, quality can be approached in several ways. Relatively decent wines can also be made by choosing the right technology. But if you really want to create excellence, it comes down to a lot of small decisions: choosing the right ripeness, the right time to harvest, consciously reducing yields for quality, paying attention on a daily basis, working 100% by hand.
The reliability and excellence of Czurda Rieslings has broadened the range of enthusiasts for the style, and in recent years a stable group of customers has developed who are passionate about these wines and understand why it is worth spending even more to buy them. They are members of a community for whom not only high quality but also sustainability is a value. In Henrik Czurda’s vineyard, they not only look after the vines, but also the surrounding vegetation and biodiversity, and provide stable jobs for the local workforce. So buying a bottle of Czurda wine is not only a way of pleasing yourself, but also a way of supporting the preservation of environmental diversity and the work of the vineyard workers.
