WILD Preiselbeere — Edition Sommelier

The declared composition is 100% wild cranberry — a single fruit, with nothing else declared.^[1]

Specifications. Classification and label details as stated by the producer:

• Category: wild fruit essence (Wildfrucht Essenz), Edition Sommelier label
• Line: WILD, one of Obsthof Retter's Edition Sommelier sub-ranges alongside WELL and FLY
• Fruit: 100% wild cranberry (Preiselbeere)

Production. The essence is made by Obsthof Retter, a family manufactory operating since 1886 in Austria's Pöllau Valley, the homeland of the Hirschbirne and the Kronprinz Rudolf apple. The house describes itself as an organic pioneer and has grown from a small farm into an internationally recognised organic fruit manufactory.

Ingredients Policy. No sugar, water or flavorings are added at any stage.^[2]

The maturation is a stated requirement of the format rather than a finishing touch. Obsthof Retter holds that its wild fruit essences need constant cellar temperatures so that fruit acid can break down naturally, and keeps the bottlings within the thick walls of the Pöllau castle cellar until they reach what it calls optimal drinking maturity.

Across the Edition Sommelier range, Obsthof Retter uses only the first pressing of the wild fruit — what it terms the heart or quintessence — deliberately forgoing yield in favour of denser, more complex and more aroma-rich essences than conventional juices. The fruit for the line is sourced from wild and primeval forest sites that mostly grow autochthonously.

At Vinum magazine's High-End Juice Tasting in 2018, the expert jury scored WILD Preiselbeere 18 out of 18 points — the only product in the tasting to reach the maximum, and the outright winner. Obsthof Retter entered four Edition Sommelier wild fruit essences in that tasting of 32 juices, and all four placed in the Top 10.^[1]