2008 Goldackerl Beerenauslese, Willi Opitz

Glowing amber in the glass, the 2008 Goldackerl Beerenauslese is a masterpiece of patience and precision, a wine that feels like pure silk and honey on the tongue. The nose brims with aromas of apricot compote, candied orange peel and acacia honey, underpinned by hints of saffron, almond and caramelised pear. The palate is rich and unctuous, yet perfectly lifted by bright, balancing acidity. Layers of tropical fruit, citrus and spice unfold slowly, leading to a finish that’s endlessly long and luminously sweet. Every sip hums with the golden warmth of late-harvest perfection, sensual, seamless, and unmistakably Opitz.

For when: you want a dessert wine that makes time stand still.
Pairs with: foie gras, baked peach tart, or aged blue cheese.
If this wine were a moment, it’d be a golden sunset reflected on still water.

Willi Opitz, based in Illmitz on the shores of Lake Neusiedl, is one of Austria’s most visionary and inventive winemakers, a master of botrytised dessert wines who has elevated noble rot to an art form. His Goldackerl vineyard, a small and precious plot, produces some of the estate’s most prized late-harvest fruit, often handpicked berry by berry under the morning mist.

The Beerenauslese sits at the heart of Opitz’s sweet wine hierarchy, a style defined by its richness, purity and graceful balance between sweetness and acidity. The 2008 vintage, cool yet beautifully even, delivered grapes with exceptional aromatic intensity and perfect botrytis development. Vinified slowly in small batches, the Goldackerl showcases everything that makes Willi Opitz a legend of Lake Neusiedl: patience, precision and an uncanny ability to turn fleeting natural beauty into liquid art.