‘Crazy Lud’ 2021 Maurer

Farming : Organic

 

Winemaking : Hand-Picked Grapes | Native Yeast Fermentation | Unfined | Unfiltered | Vegan

 

Region : Subotica, Vojvodina, Serbia

 

Grape : Mixed field blend made of Grašac (Olaszrizling), Bakator, Slánkamenka, Szeremi Zöld, Tamjanika

 

Alcohol by Volume : 10.5%

Notes:

 

In the past decade, winemaker Oszkár Maurer has expanding his production into the Fruška Gora, Serbia, opening a tasting room/restaurant, and redefining what many of these nearly forgotten grapes taste like, while always keeping a close eye on the traditions of both his grandparents and the region’s 2000+ years of documented winemaking history. His aesthetic and philosophy are starting to permeate everything above and beyond the vineyards and cellar. The Maurer family has been producing wine for four generations. They now farm 6 hectares in the wine region of Szabadka directly south of the Hungarian-Serbian border, and another 10 acres in the Fruška Gora mountain district in Syrmia, 40 miles away from capital of Serbia, Belgrade and bordered by the Danube River to the north.

“Lud” means Goose in Hungarian and Crazy in Serbian. There’s an old Hungarian expression, “Ha lúd, legyen kövér!” that literally translates to “If it’s a goose, let it be fat.” In other words, if you’re going to go big, go big in all respects. This pretty much sums up this wine. This is a mixed field blend with 1-2 days of maceration and relatively short 6 months of aging in tank. It’s a table in the best possible use of that term. The Grašac is the foundation, the Bakator and Slánkamenka add texture and weight, the Szeremi Zöld acidity and aromatics and the Tamjanika drives home said aromatics. Picked ripe at 10.5% alcohol, it’s a celebration of local grapes done in a way that everyone can enjoy and afford to drink everyday. Bottled unfined and unfiltered by gravity with zero additions.