Oszkár Maurer is a celebrated natural winegrower and maker in northern Serbia, right next to the border with Hungary. As he says, “wine is an aphrodisiac for the soul. It’s like the grease or the motor oil for the soil, when you drink a natural wine… the stuck gears begin to move.” Kövidinka is a pink, thin-skinned grape variety that’s most often used to make white wines in Hungary and Serbia. It doesn’t accumulate much sugar during ripening, and since sugar equates to alcohol in a fully-fermented wine, the wines tend to be low in alcohol - 11.4% in this case. Maurer’s kövidinka, from ungrafted vines planted in 1925, macerated with the skins for three days and then spent six months in used 500-liter barrels. The wine was bottled unfined and unfiltered with no additions (ØØ). It is spicy, savory, and just a little cidery - more of a textural white than an orange wine. Try it with spicy and/or nutty dishes - especially walnuts.
