Mainly Zweigelt with a bit of Blauer Wildbacher.
The grapes come from the Bad Gams vineyard, planted on Gneiss soils with a high iron and silica content.  Whole clusters are fermented in barrel and left to sit with the skins for a full year. The wine is then pressed off and aged for a further year in barrel  in a mix of used 225-litre, 300-litre and 500-litre neutral vessels. No fining, no filtration, no added sulphur at any stage. 
Rot simply means red, and this is Franz Strohmeier’s most unambiguously red wine in the TLZ range: a serious, unhurried expression of what Styria can do with a grape best known for easy drinking.
In the glass it is a clear, deep ruby, with a transparency that belies its depth. The nose is compelling: black cherry, wild blackberry, a thread of white pepper and a faint smokiness, with an earthy, mineral backbone that anchors everything. On the palate it is juicy and textured, with fine tannins and a good balance  of fruit and structure.
This is a wine to open with food and let breathe: lamb chops, venison, wild mushroom risotto, or aged hard cheeses.
