Muster Graf Sauvignon 2020

Graf Sauvignon is the barrel aged Sauvignon Blanc of Maria and Sepp Muster, made in the south of Styria near the Slovenian border. The couple have farmed their ten hectare estate biodynamically since 2000 and were certified by Demeter in 2003, their vines having never been treated with chemicals. The vineyards sit on opok, the grey marl and sandstone that gives Styrian whites their firm mineral spine, on cool steep slopes that hold acidity. This is the more ambitious of their Sauvignons, fermented with wild yeasts and aged at length in wood. Extended contact with the lees in barrel, with slow oxygen exchange through the staves, builds a broad, textured palate and softens the wine while adding savoury, nutty complexity, without covering the fruit or the site. The colour is a deep pale gold. The nose is layered, showing white peach, lemon curd and hazelnut, and the palate is full and mineral with a long, saline, grippy finish. Serve it around 12 degrees, and a decant helps it open.