Winemaker Notes
Harvested in the end of October Fermented in stailnless steel with natural yeasts. Half raised in stainless steel while the other half was aged for 5 months in large Austrian oak casks on the fine lees prior to bottling.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Sourced from the younger, 15- to 35-year-old vines, the 2016 Ried Zöbinger Heiligenstein 1ÖTW Riesling has a super clear, deep and flinty bouquet of super precise and well concentrated citrus fruits. Fermented in stainless steel and bottled without any further movements, this is a highly elegant, gorgeously fresh and finessed dry Heiligensten that is pure, mineral and salty as well as intense and long, with lovely marjoram flavors. A great dry Riesling!
Range: 92-93
Riesling possesses a remarkable ability to reflect the character of wherever it is grown while still maintaining its identity. A regal variety of incredible purity and precision, this versatile grape can be just as enjoyable dry or sweet, young or old, still or sparkling and can age longer than nearly any other white variety. Somm Secret—Given how difficult it is to discern the level of sweetness in a Riesling from the label, here are some clues to find the dry ones. First, look for the world “trocken.” (“Halbtrocken” or “feinherb” mean off-dry.) Also a higher abv usually indicates a drier Riesling.
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.