Ruster Ausbruch DAC

A noble sweet white wine speciality made from noble rotten berries shrivelled into sultanas from the Austrian province of Burgenland. This wine was already created around the middle of the 16th century. In 1681, the imperial Diet of Ödenburg, with the document of 3 December of that year, elevated the market town of Rust to the status of a royal free town. In return, the citizens of Rust had to pay Emperor Leopold I. (1640-1705) in "real and liquid gold", namely the enormous sum of 60,000 florins and the entire annual harvest of 500 buckets (equivalent to around 30,000 litres) of Rust Ausbruch.

In 2016, the predicate wine level Ausbruch was awarded exclusively to the "Ruster Ausbruch". From the 2020 vintage onwards, this wine then received the origin-controlled quality level DAC (Districtus Austriae Controllatus) and is now marketed as Ruster Ausbruch DAC. Only grapes from Rust and directly adjacent vineyards may be used. In principle, the wine must meet the requirements of a Trockenbeerenauslese and may be made from one or more white quality wine grape varieties ( cuvées are also permitted). As a rule, these are mostly Chardonnay, Furmint, Gelber Muskateller, Welschriesling and Weißburgunder (Pinot Blanc). Only berries shrivelled naturally on the vine and affected by botrytis may be used, which have been obtained by selective manual harvesting. The minimum must weight must be 30°KMW. The sweet wine must be characterised by exuberant fruit, discreet botrytis note, piquant sweetness-acidity play and a targeted alcohol content of 12% vol. Vinification must take place in the Ruster vineyards. Ruster Ausbruch may only be marketed with the Cercle Ruster Ausbruch seal of quality after a strict quality test by blind tasting.

Picture left: © DWI (German Wine Institute)
Picture right: by Walliswine - own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link