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Drink it now or cellar for up to 25 years. It is recommended to decant it for half an hour. The Austrian winery Philipp Grassl is located in the village of Göttlesbrunn in the Carnuntum region. Here, the talented winemaker Philipp, who has been running the winery since 2006, produces mainly high-quality red wines from the approximately 30 hectares of organically farmed vineyards. The company philosophy is to produce pure, distinctive wines through meticulous work in the vineyards and minimal intervention in the cellar. The Ried Barnreiser 1OTW Erste Lage is an elegant wine, a cuvée made from Blaufränkisch, Zweigelt, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. It comes from 50+ year-old vines from the Barnreiser vineyard, an exceptional site associated with 17th-century witch legends. After fermentation with natural yeasts in wooden vats, the finished wine rests for a year and a half in a mix of new and used wooden barrels. In the glass, the wine has a clear and bright color, with dark red hues and purple highlights. Its aromatic profile is broad and intense with notes of ripe berries, such as blackberries and cassis, followed by peppery and herbaceous hints. On the palate, it is powerful and elegant with a medium-full body. It has a strong character, firm and well-integrated tannins, and a long, concentrated finish that recalls notes of bitter chocolate. Try it with steak or beef fillet with mushrooms.