Winemaker Notes
This wine affirms that Gruner Veltliner belongs among the finest grapes from which white wine is made, and that it should be uniquely cherished for its particular gifts. One swirl, one sniff, one taste, and the doors swing open, and Gruner Veltliner is welcomed into the elite.
Lössterrassen is named for the terraces dug into the loess soils in the Kremstal. Erich farms these vineyards sustainably, without herbicides, pesticides or fungicides. Erich’s goal here is to make a more serious wine than the liter bottling, one which “goes deeper” in his words. The resulting wine is noticeably more concentrated than the juicy and drinkableliter wine, but still offering great value.
Fun to say and delightfully easy to drink, Grüner Veltliner calls Austria its homeland. While some easily quaffable Grüners come in a one-liter—a convenient size—many high caliber single vineyard bottlings can benefit from cellar aging. Somm Secret—About 75% of the world’s Grüner Veltliner comes from Austria but the variety is gaining ground in other countries, namely Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and the United States.
The region of considerable geologic diversity and microclimates, Kremstal extends virtually without border east from Wachau along the Danube River. Its magnificent terraced and rocky vineyards in the west alongside Wachau include some of Austria’s most esteemed Riesling vineyards, the (Steiner) Hund and Pfaffenberg, as well as Kögl and Wachtberg nearer to the city of Krems. After Krems, the vineyards become excessively steep upstream around Senftenberg where Riesling and Grüner Veltliner thrive. Grüner Veltliner does best from here east where the soils become a mix of sand, gravel and loess.
Grüner Veltliner and Riesling together comprise two thirds of all of the Kremstal vineyards; the region itself represents about five percent of Austria’s total vineyard area.