Edgar Brutler Crisana Sefu White 1 Liter 2022

Edgar’s winery is located in the historical and much disputed territory of Transylvania, officially incorporated into Romania, more specifically the region of Crișana. His family first arrived in Transylvania in the 1850’s from Stuttgart with the influx of Swabians from Bavaria. After a few back and forths due to political unrest his family resettled in the region with the help of the restitution of some land. With the words of wisdom from his grandfather, “a family with two or three kids needs 1000 liters of wine a year,” their family winemaking practice was established. As a child Edgar had his sights set on becoming a musician, but after the reality of the hours of practice and a small percentage of openings for professional musicians Edgar pursued a professional education and training as a winemaker. Now he is able to utilize his musical prowess with his professional winery training to make wine that is influenced by improvisation and feeling with the precision of much larger industrial wineries.

The ‘Sefu White’ is a co-fermentation of Chardonnay, Riesling, Furmint, and Tămâioasă Românească. Edgar presses the grapes with long and high pressure to manage tannin and extraction to avoid solids and unwanted material that would lead to off flavors. The wine is then fermented in large oak barrels and large stainless steel, and is bottled unfiltered, unfined, and receives a small addition of around 20ppm of sulfur at bottling.

I found the ‘Sefu White’ to be floral, rustic, wild and refreshing upon opening the bottle. After taking a few sips I found the wine to be saline and mineral with green apple notes of tart refreshing acidity. There is also an elegant lactic note shining through giving structure and versatility.    Jeremy Hernandez