Edgar Brutler

Weingut Edgar Brutler is a very young family-run artisanal winery, founded in 2018 in the village of Beltiug, an area that on a viticultural level appears Martian to us Italians: Transylvania. Yet it is a region where vines have thrived for at least 2000 years, and we must also consider that Romania occupies the fifth place in Europe for vineyard extension: the companies have always been geared towards mass production, but in recent years we have witnessed the emergence of a vanguard of young winemakers capable of bringing attention to quality. A great lover of music, Edgar attended the German oenological school in Geisenheim and returned home after working for a series of conventionally-established wineries, with the conviction that the right path is an approach that is as free and linked to nature as possible.

Edgar Brutler leads 4 hectares of vineyards, extending around the winery's premises in the north-west of Romania, a short distance from the Hungarian border, on modest elevations measuring approximately 125 metres above sea level. The soil is basically characterised by clay and silt, which a good presence of sand lightens and makes it well draining, while the continental climate offers easily frosty winters. Despite the winery's young age, some of the estate's vines date back as far as 1928: the most emblematic variety is certainly the Grünspitz, a white berry grown on the 0.8 hectares of one of only two known plots in the world. Other indigenous grapes make up the ampelographic picture, such as the white Fetească Regală, Fetească Albă, Welschriesling, Mustoasa de Măderat and the better known Furmint, the classic Tokaji grape and the black Blaufränkisch berry, of Austrian origin. Many other varieties present between the rows are, in fact, still unknown. Work in the vineyard is completely manual and follows the rules of the organic specification.

Winemaking at Weingut Edgar Brutler takes place in the traditional 200-year-old cellar built 60 metres into the earth of the hillside. All fermentations are spontaneous, pressing is carried out using an old vertical basket press, and the wines are neither filtered nor clarified, with almost negligible amounts of sulphites added and only when necessary.Weingut Edgar Brutler produces red wines that are light, juicy and easy drinking. Edgar does his work based, as with music, only on sensations and without cold calculation. There is no telephone line in the cellar, no mobile phone reception: everything is deep and calm.