Winemaker Notes
The nose shows flowers and fresh, exotic fruit (citrus and pineapple), apples, pears, some peppery spice and just a hint of toasty and nutty aromas. On the palate, this wine is dry and offers notes of grapefruit, pineapple, melon, and peppery spice. The wine is concentrated, with good grip, and has nicely-integrated acidity. Quite subtle and well-balanced, showing typical minerality and spice in the long finish.
Very versatile with food -- matches ideally with classic Austrian cuisine, such as Tafelspitz, Backhendl (Austrian fried Chicken), Wiener Schnitzel, or vegetables. When a bit more matured (3-5 years), try pairing with gratins, smoked salmon and trout, and Pan-Asian dishes.
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Tasted as a sample in June 2017, the 2016 Langenlois Grüner Veltliner Alte Reben is from 40+-year-old vines, mainly in the Spiegel and Käferberg. Fermented in stainless steel and aged in 2,500-liter Austrian oak barrels until the summer of 2017, this is a pure, bone dry, fresh and firmly structured Grüner Veltliner with remarkable tannins and stimulating salinity in the finish. It is a Burgundian Veltiner with great purity and freshness. It was harvested in the second and third week of October in the stop-and-go modus, as Andreas Wickhoff explains.
Rating: (91-93)
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.
Climbing north and slightly east of the Kremstal region, Kamptal has very little vineyard area bordering the Danube River (unlike Wachau and Kremstal, whose vineyards run along it). The region takes its name from the river called Kamp, which traverses it north and south. Kamptal’s densely planted vineyards represent eight percent of Austria’s total.
The area experiences wide diurnal temperature variations like the Wachau but with less rain and more frost. Its vast geologic diversity makes it suitable for various experimentations with other varieties besides Grüner Veltliner and Riesling, such as Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc (Weissburgunder), Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir, St. Laurent and Zweigelt.
But the region is probably most noted for the beautiful and expansive terraced Heiligenstein, arguably one of the world’s top Riesling sites, as well as some of Austria’s most extraordinary Grüner Veltliner vineyards. Kamptal’s soils, which are mostly loess and sand with some gravel and rocks, make it suitable for Grüner Veltliner, so much so that actually half of the zone is planted to that grape.