Ripe Zweigelt Competition – Falstaff Tasting 2022

Ripe old Zweigelt wines show what they are capable of. The story is no longer entirely new, but with such aged wines, it doesn’t really matter. In the spring of 2022, Falstaff magazine tasted and evaluated old, mature vintages of the Zweigelt grape variety. For us, a Blauer Zweigelt 2002 and a Capella 2012 were part of the tasting and we are very satisfied with the ratings achieved!

Zweigelt is not the first grape variety that comes to mind when you think of long-aged wines. It was clear to us that this does not have to be the case, but of course one should try it anyway. And so 283 Zweigelt wines of older vintages were tasted by Falstaff magazine - with quite remarkable results!

It turned out that the Zweigelt grape variety offers much more potential for aging than is generally acknowledged. Especially powerful Zweigelt of the reserve category, with or without wood influence, have developed excellently. Our Capella 2012 (10 years old) scored an impressive 92 points, with the prospect of further good development. The 2002 Blaue Zweigelt (20 years old!) still managed to score 88 points, but it is already past its zenith. But still, if someone had asked us in 2002 about its aging potential, we would probably have suggested 5-7 years. So we are also very satisfied with this.

So anyone who still has old Zweigelt bottles in the cellar, can certainly look forward to a beautifully aged Zweigelt!