Indeed this is among the rarest Austrian Rieslings; so far as I can tell, we are the only retailer in the U.S. with so much as a bottle. More importantly though, the "Unendlich" is, year in and year out, among the absolute greatest dry Rieslings.

Austria's Burgenland is southeast of Vienna, pushing up against the border with Hungary. This is the home of Austria's reds, with Blaufränkisch ("Lemberger" in Germany and the U.S., "Kekfrankos" in Hungary) gaining more and more acclaim. Speaking with Velich it is obvious he has thought long and deep about Blaufränkisch, about Burgenland and about how to make wine.

The foundation of Moric is, as it should be, the vineyards. Velich focuses on parcels in the villages of Neckenmarkt and Lutzmannsberg. These vineyards have very high densities, old clonal selections and very old vines - up to and beyond 100 years. Yields are extremely low, vinifications take place in open-topped fermenters with natural yeasts and are allowed to progress at their own rate.

Heed Schildknecht's words above: This is an offer for the Burgundy lover, for those who appreciate a seductive, balanced expression of fruit, mineral, flower, earth.

This is elegant Blaufränkisch. In most cases, that's a rather jarring phrase; if Blaufränkisch has a reputation at all for the American consumer, it'd likely be reduced to "juicy, rustic and rugged."

Roland Velich and his Moric project, however, are leading something like a revolution in Austria's Burgenland - going back to the fundamentals and in the process finding a pure, authentic expression of Blaufränkisch.

Zierfandler is an indigenous grape grown in the tiny region and basically nowhere else. The Mandel-Höh vineyard is the grape's favorite spot on earth - Stadlmann's bottling represents the most noble expression of Zierfandler, from the kind of vintage that only comes around every decade or so.

The Zierfandler in the Mandel-Höh vineyard is roughly 45 years old and the gem of the estate. The grapes are harvested with great care and fermented in large old wooden barrels. Fermentation takes about two weeks, though the wine is left to settle for an additional 8 months before it is bottled.

The Stadlmann winery was founded in the late 18th century and is one of the region's best. The passionate Monica Caha imports the wine and has been a tireless enthusiast for the great wines of Austria - we're thankful to count her as our great friend. As for the Stadlmanns, the winery is is currently run by the seventh generation - Johann Stadlmann - and the wines must be counted as amongst the best of this little-known region.

I wrote in my "Wine of the Year" email that "Stadlmann is too small a producer (less than 200 cases of this wine make it to the US) and the Zierfandler grape too esoteric to ever be welcomed into the mainstream."

Well - I happily stand corrected, though I think the fact that this wine is showing up at all on the national radar is simply a testament to the quality of the wine, and honestly the rigor of Schildknecht's scholariship, which I very much admire.