Selling Out!
On 31 August we bottled the 2023 vintage and on 21 October the first bottle was sold to Vineeta D at 10:21 AM CET. 😁
By mid-December all of the bottles will be shipped from the cellar into the hands of wine drinkers around the world including Austria, England, Estonia, France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, South Africa and the USA — pretty cool. Each bottle is individually numbered, which are hopefully being posted on Instagram with the #kapitelzweiwine so I know they arrived safe and sound.
What’s most remarkable, and taken for granted, is how easy I can ship a bottle of wine across the European Union, whereas in the USA shipping between states is highly regulated and requires a license.
Here is the final label design and wax closure. Interestingly, I received very different feedback on the different social media platforms about the wax design.
To launch the wine, and to celebrate the first vintage, Kapitel Zwei Wine sponsored a few bottles for a Viennale party hosted by the Soho House at the Hotel Motto in Vienna. The Viennale is the annual film festival in Vienna and the Soho House rented out a suite to honor the occasion for its members. I was joined by my winery friends at Mantlerhof, Benita Sophia and Feldtheorie.
The evening was a lot of fun as I met people from the fashion, design and entertainment industries, including an Austrian actor who is expected to be in a new Amazon Prime TV series. There was also buzz that Willem Dafoe was going to make an appearance, but I was too busy pouring wine to notice - life is good.
The Hotel Motto suite featured this foot claw bathtub to chill all the wines, beers and beverages. Can you spot the three bottles of Kapitel Zwei? Hint: Look for the mint green wax. I actually brought six bottles, but the other three were under the ice.
Austria Drowns
A few days after I sent the last newsletter Austria was hit with massive flooding and the region of Lower Austria, where my vineyard is located, was declared a disaster zone. An entire year of rainfall fell in 96 hours. It was biblical. Simultaneously, my parents and brother arrived from New York to help with the harvest, which was now delayed for four days.
Thankfully, there was plenty of indoor work to be done including stamping all of the labels and preparing the shipping boxes. It was a great pleasure to share my new career with my family and to get them involved.
To quote winemaker Robert Mondavi, “Wine to me is passion. It’s family and friends. It’s warmth of heart and generosity of spirit. Wine is art. It’s culture. It’s the essence of civilization and the art of living.”
2024 Vintage
Eventually the sun came out and we harvested Chenin Blanc, Grüner Veltliner and Riesling with a few kilos of Roussanne and Semillon, which seem to be struggling a bit in the clay soil.
The 2024 vintage, which if all goes well should be twice as large as 2023, as I now have two amphorae fermenting. One 100% Riesling and the second, my second assemblage of Grüner Veltliner and Chenin Blanc, with a tiny bit of Roussanne and Semillon.
Thanks again to everyone who ordered the 2023 vintage. If you missed out I’ll make sure you are on the top of the allocation list for the 2024.
I hope you can share a sip with friends and family during the holiday season and it brings a smile to you as it did to me.
Prost!
