Porsche makes Austrian Cuvée 356 to mark 70th year

Luxury car brand Porsche has produced an own-label wine – a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Blanc from Austria – to commemorate its 70th anniversary.

Cuvée 356 has been made by Austrian winemaker Armin Tement, in homage to the fact that it was in Austria where the first Porsche sports car was made.

It was in the summer of 1948 that the brand’s first sports car, the Porsche 356 “No. 1” Roadster – designed by Austrian Ferry Porsche, son of Ferdinand Porsche – made its road debut, having been built in Gmünd within the Austrian state of Carinthia.

The winery chosen to produce the cuvée, Tement in southern Styria, was founded in the 1980s by Manfred Tement. The estate is located in Ehrenhausen, on the border between Austria and Slovenia, and around 250km from Gmünd.

The wine is a blend of 65% Pinot Blanc, 18% Chardonnay, 12% Sauvignon Blanc and 5% Pinot Gris, handpicked and aged on their lees for six months, resulting in a “complex and elegant wine with profound minerality and long-lasting spiciness”.

The wine was first served on 8 June at the official celebration held at the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen.

It will be available at Porsche’s Christophorus restaurant in Stuttgart, and also in the museum shop. Wine importer Baron von Essen will supply selected on-trade, while individuals can order the wine for €19.50 per bottle, with a minimum order of 18 bottles.

(L-R) Alexander Baron von Essen, wine importer, winemaker Manfred Tement, and Holger Schramm, sommelier, sommelier and manager of Porsche’s Christophorus restaurant in Stuttgart.