Weingut Neumeister Straden Sauvignon Blanc 2024

If your experience with Sauvignon Blanc has been limited to the zippy, grapefruit-heavy bottles of New Zealand or the chalky austerity of the Loire, it’s time to look toward the volcanic slopes of Southeast Austria. Specifically, to the village of Straden in Vulkanland Steiermark, where Christoph Neumeister is producing some of the most soulful, texture-driven whites in the country.

The 2024 “Straden” is a village-level wine (Ortswein) that drinks with the complexity of a single-vineyard bottling. Unlike many modern Sauvignon Blancs that are rushed to bottle to preserve primary fruit, Neumeister allows this wine a two-day skin maceration and nearly a year of aging on the fine lees in large, neutral oak casks. The result is a wine that feels simultaneously airy and concentrated, trading simple citrus for a kaleidoscopic array of cassis leaf, Thai basil, and red pepper.

On the palate, it’s all about structure and salty minerality—a hallmark of the region’s basalt and limestone soils. You’ll find notes of white currant, bergamot, and bay leaf, wrapped in a texture that is creamy yet driven by a persistent, vibrating acidity. It’s a sophisticated, savory bottle that belongs at the dinner table rather than just in a poolside tumbler.