Winemaker Notes
Impressive, multifaceted bouquet marked by noble reduction, fine yeasty (and a touch of toasty) spice with flinty minerals, while, when opening up after several hours showing hints of white flowers, pome fruit, green nuts and a whiff of exotic fruit; starting creamy, then fresh, bone dry, and if not 'juicy' then truly mouth-watering, again with many fragrant hints of divers fruit (like above), followed by minerals and spice, very impressive too is the great balance, elegance and persistence until the almost salty final: This is finest, cool climate white wine!
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
Expressive and fragrant, showing aromas of star fruit, yellow plums, flint, raw hazelnuts, wild herbs and some seaweed and aniseed. It’s full-bodied, layered and so complex, a serious expression of this grape, with ripe yellow fruit and subtle smokiness. Gentle toasty firmness, just enough for guidance. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold.
-
Vinous
The 2023 Grüner Veltliner Ried Lamm, from the midslope of the site on loess and loam over Permian sandstone, presents creamy hazelnut on the nose, reflecting its fermentation and maturation in 300-liter oak barrels. The palate offers hazelnut, white pepper, creaminess and ripe yellow apple flesh, all underlined by fine lemon freshness. Potency and undoubted freshness, muscle and tension are evident. The finish is clean cut and everything here remains tightly coiled. Wait for this.
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.