Roughly translated, Kolfok means “unconventional thinker,” which Stefan D. Wellanschitz, the winemaker behind Kolfok, is. He took a traditional winery that was established during the 19th century in Neckenmarkt, Austria, and transformed it, making the grapes organically farmed with biodynamic practices and taking a more hands-off approach in the wine cellar.
In his wine, he hopes to highlight the Mittelburgenland terrior, with its unique range of soils, which span from schist and gneiss to limestone in the higher altitudes, and in the lower vineyards from ferrous loam to volcanic clay. Through his hands-off approach, he creates authentic wines, describing his process as purely an “observer” who provides the wines “all the freedom they need.”
Kolfok 'Intra! the Wild' Weiss 2021
$28.00
Stefan Wellanschitz, the winemaker at Kolfolk, likes the physical qualities of skin-fermented wines, or "orange" wines on the palate, but he wanted a way to make one that was also elegant, not just tannic and out-there. Enter intracellular fermentation: intact, uncrushed grapes rested in a large fermentation vessel where native yeasts slowly started the fermentation process inside of the berries, leading to a gentler extraction from the skins. After some weeks, the grapes were pressed off to finish fermentation in 1100 and 1500L (i.e. really big) used oak barrels. A unique winemaking approach that results in a tropical-but-elegant white wine, full of structure, pale in color, with notes like a fistful of flowers. A new Burgenland fave.
Images courtesy of Kolfok and Wine Monger
