Kobatl
About
This place where Michl works used to be famous. Immediately on the Slovenian border, this appellation, and even his home village of Tieschen, was under Austro-Hungary on every civic vineyard map. Indeed Mikey, as he goes by, lives and farms beneath a once-famous vineyard hilltop site named Königsberg, or King’s Hill; once you start to taste through his cellar you begin to understand just what crazy terroir is hiding out in these green slopes.
His farming is fiercely organic; hating to spray copper and sulfur constantly in this humid place, Mikey has opted to plant fungus-resistant varieties, which is why you might not recognize their varietal names. (Each variety is roughly 80-95% vinifera in genetic composition, so they act exactly as their “purebred” siblings.) What that means is lush, verdant vineyards and healthy ferments, which allow Michl to refine his practices clearly drawn from French influence. That means: a few hours to days of cold soaks and gentle exposure of juice to a touch of oxygen, before getting these wines into barrels for full lees ferments, then racking to fine lees. All of this amounts to wines that are a tense push-pull between oxygen and reduction, with startling tropical fruit and meadowy aromas and flavors, but underneath it all is the kingly volcanic stuff that’s the heartbeat of this region.
Add to this that Mikey is very deeply his own dude—part of the southern Austrian hinterlands, this place and this winemaker have nothing really to do with the more aristocratic north, where they have far more infrastructure for wine and no gaps in their winemaking history. Vulkanland is an appellation that time forgot a bit, which allows certain Pan-like goat-farmers to go roaming off on their four-wheelers to work their vineyards, all the while developing a mind for technical precision and winemaking literacy. If you have ever chased after a trophy bottle of old-school Didier Dagueneau or one of Ganevat’s more powerful cuvées or Nicolas Jacob’s Chazaux with age, and so on, we urge you to check out Michl’s work. If they’re not putting Kobatl up in the ranks of those wineries in ten or so years, we’ll really be surprised.
Products
Sauvignac 'Rumble in the Jungle'
Organic. 100% Sauvignac grown on intense soils of weathered volcanic rock and genuine black basalt (from which the appellation of Vulkanland takes its name). The fruit was hand-harvested and gently macerated for four days. Fermented spontaneously in a combination of 300, 500, and 600L neutral barrels. The wine spent 12 months aging on the lees before blending, and an additional nine months of élevage before bottling. Unfined, unfiltered, with 8ppm SO2 added at bottling. 2022 was quite humid and wet during the flowering period. A dry summer followed, resulting in concentrated berries. This vintage sold super quickly for us, as ‘Rumble’ is one of Michl’s two signature wines, and a stunning example of what volcanic terroir can do to Sauvignac—notes of pretty quinine, a beautiful silken texture, and a palate of volcanic flowers and herbs.
Muscaris 'Flower Power'
Organic. 100% Muscaris grown on the volcanic basalt for which the Vulkanland appellation is named, mixed in with slate, gneiss, and opok. Hand-harvested in September and macerated for roughly 12 hours. Spontaneous fermentation in stainless steel, with 2/3 of the wine aged for one year on full lees, then racked once to fine lees to remain aging there for the next 21 months with no further movement. Bottled unfined and unfiltered, with an 8ppm S02 addition. Beautiful, fragrant nose; on the palate it reminds us of the stirring wines of Andreas Tscheppe in the not-so-far-away Südsteiermark, albeit more dense, strongly mineral, and with lots of tension. A stunner.
Souvignier Gris 'My Dirty Siva'
Biodynamic. 100% Souvignier Gris (a white PiWi variety: a cross of Cabernet Sauvignon x Bronner, an aromatic northern Italian hybrid). Grapes are picked by hand into small crates, then brought into a cold room at the winery to rest for around a day. This Souvignier Gris spent around three days hours on the skins (cold-macerated); after pressing, it went into neutral old barrels for thirteen months on full lees; then it was racked and aged for a further two months on fine lees. Unfined, unfiltered, ~15mg SO2 added just before bottling. Kobatl is located in a tiny pocket of the appellation of Vulkanland where heavy/dense volcanic soils dominate; winemaker Michl Gingl says these soils are the key to his wines and express "fruity and intense" flavors and aromas, as well as keeping general pH levels of his wines low. 2020 in Vulkanland was a cooler vintage: it kept acidity levels high, assisted in keeping pH levels low, and allowed for especially nice skin-macerated wines. This wine is saline, mineral, and subtle: it's not a wine focused on aroma, but rather of power and persistence on the palate, with a sparkly sense of volcanic rock hiding out underneath.
Sauvignac 'Kollision'
Organic. 100% Sauvignac (a PiWi variety, where the vinifera genes predominate. Cross between Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, and a mystery hybrid variety). Taken from two vineyard parcels on soils of weathered volcanic rock and basalt. Direct press; fermented and aged in stainless steel for eight months on full lees, then racked off to fine lees for three more months' aging. Unfined, unfiltered, ~15ppm SO2 added just before bottling. Notes of elderflower, white pepper, nettle, with a grassy and tropical palate. This wine has amazing tension and length; it's a great sign of what PiWis can do on the right soils and in the right hand.
Muscaris 'Kollision'
Organic. 100% Muscaris (a PiWi variety, in which vinifera genes predominate. Cross between Muskateller and the hybrid Solaris). Taken from three vineyard parcels on soils of weathered volcanic rock and basalt. Direct press; fermented and aged in stainless steel for eight months on full lees, then racked off to fine lees for three more months' aging. Unfined, unfiltered, ~15ppm SO2 added just before bottling. Notes of chamomile, white tea, lemon meringue and powdery white rock. This wine has amazing tension and length; it's a great sign of what PiWis can do on the right soils and in the right hand.
Bronner 'Waldstueck'
Organic. 100% Bronner. Single-vineyard selection from one of winemaker Michl Gingl's favorite vineyard parcels, right on the edge of the deep, dark Styrian forest ('Waldstück' literally means 'parcel in the woods'). Soils are intense, weathered volcanic rock along with genuine black basalt; the cool micro-climate of this parcel gives way to a Bronner that is not nearly as robust, textured, or aromatic as it can be in, say, Alto Adige, where you’ll see the variety more often. Direct press, spontaneous fermentation in stainless steel. Aged on full lees for four months, then fine lees for seven months. Unfined, unfiltered, around 15ppm SO2 added just before bottling. Lovely notes of meadow herbs, green apple, pineapple, with tension and a ton of length on the palate. Terrific white to pair with grilled fish and barbecue dishes.
Muscaris 'Muscaty'
Organic. 100% Muscaris grown on the volcanic basalt for which the Vulkanland appellation is named, mixed in with slate, gneiss, and opok. Previously known as ‘Kollision Muscaris,’ this wine has a new name and a new look for the 2022 vintage. The fruit is hand-harvested and direct-pressed to stainless steel for spontaneous fermentation. 1/3 of the wine is aged in tank on lees for 12 months, with the remaining 2/3 of the juice aged for three months on full lees, then additional nine months after racking on just the fine lees. Bottled unfined and unfiltered, with a 15ppm S02 addition. The startlingly tropical lychee and kiwi notes of Muscaris are immediately recognizable on the nose, with herbal touches; the palate shows great, silken texture, nice acidity, and a very long, rather potent mineral finish. The prettiest and perhaps most accessible of winemaker Michl Gingl’s bottlings.
Sauvignac 'Sauvy'
Organic. 100% Sauvignac, grown on the volcanic basalt for which the Vulkanland appellation is named, mixed in with weathered rock. This cuvée was previously called ‘Kollision,’ but now has a new cuvée name and a new look for 2022. The fruit was hand-harvested and direct-pressed to stainless steel tanks for fermentation and six months of élevage. Bottled unfined and unfiltered, with a 15ppm S02 addition at bottling. Perhaps a bit more delicate and tender than the 2021 version of this wine, due to a combination of wet and humid conditions during the flowering period and intense heat during veraison. Unusual and very pretty notes of lilac, meadow flowers, and deep green herbs on the nose, with the terroir’s signature reduction and fiery undertones on the palate. Dead on for a Touraine Chenin Blanc without the golden hues, if it were transported to volcanic soils.
