Winemaker Notes
A Riesling from one of the coolest, steepest and most spectacular vineyards of the Wachau. Impressive minerality.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This has an attractive nose of star fruit, green pears, honey and lime pith, with some salty and earthy complexity. Medium- to full-bodied, flavorful and textured throughout. Dry and persistent. Sustainable. Drink now or hold.
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Vinous
The 2022 Riesling Bruck Federspiel, also from the lateral valley of the Spitzer Graben, was grown on weathered gneiss and amphibolite. Yeast is far more prevalent here, as is smoky, flinty reduction. The palate brings lemony precision, lemony flavors and lemony zestiness. This is bright, vivid and juicy. There is proper mid-palate traction and body, with a lovely, lasting, crystal-clear tautness—bracing and fresh. (Bone-dry)
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Wine Spectator
A delicious and drinkable example of the Federspiel style, with a gentle edge to its pine and alpine herb freshness. Supple and open-knit through the medium, leesy finish, showing mineral concentration and a white pepper element.
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.
As Austria’s most prestigious wine growing region, the landscape of the Wachau is—not surprisingly—one of its most dramatic. Millions of years ago, the Danube River chiseled its way through the earth, creating steep terraces of decomposed volcanic and metamorphic rock. Harsh Ice Age winds brought deposits of ancient glacial dust and loess to the terrace’s eastern faces. Today these steep surfaces of nutrient-poor and fast draining soil are home to some of Austria’s very best sites for both Grüner Veltliner and Riesling.
Wachau is small, comprising a mere three percent of Austria’s vine surface and, considering relatively low yields, represents a miniscule proportion of total wine production. Diurnal temperature shifts in Wachau facilitate great balance of sugar and phenolic ripeness in its grapes. At night cold air from the Alps and forests in the northwest displace warm afternoon air, which gets sucked upstream along the Danube.
Its sites are actually so varied and distinct that more emphasis is going into vineyard-designated offerings even despite grape variety. Grüner Veltliner and Riesling are most prominent, but the region produces Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc (Weissburgunder), Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc and Zweigelt among other local variants.