Winemaker Notes
The Brundlmayer Alte Reben Gruner Veltliner has a lively, fresh, pleasantly fruity and delicate bouquet with notes of hay flowers, stone fruit, grapefruit and fresh cut citrus as well as a hint of vanilla and peppery spice. On the palate, it is fresh and bone dry with juicy fruit (fresh cut apple and citrus) and many more nuances softly "melting down" towards a surprisingly long, spicy and even salty finish.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Tasted as a barrel sample in June this year, Bründlmayer's 2020 Grüner VeltlinerLangenloiser Alte Reben is very clear, deep, intense and fresh on the coolish and complex nose that delivers notes of crushed stones and herbs intermingled with unique fruit aromas that make this an iconic Kamptal wine of which I had a brilliant 1999 the other day. The palate of the 2020 is very elegant, lush and refined, with fine and vital mineral acidity and a serious tannic grip. This is a gorgeous, tensioned and thrilling Veltliner and an icon not only among the village wines all along the Danube River. It is a wine to enjoy and to collect for many years or even decades.
Range: 93-94
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.