Winemaker Notes
Gruner Veltliner Loss forms the basis of Hiedler's portfolio. It is sourced from vines growing on the eponymous loess soils. They have been formed over the millennia by deposits of weathering alpine rock, crushed under the weight of ice age glaciers.
Enormous storms have deposited this dust, in various mineral compositions of clays, lime, quartz, and mica, also in the southern Kamptal. The mineral-rich and porous soil, in which the vines form a deep root system, characterizes the typical bright fruit and cool spice of this Veltliner.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A layered, creamy textured white with sliced-pear, flint and dried-mango character. It’s dry and flavorful. Lovely finish. Drink and enjoy.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2019 Hiedler Löss Grüner Veltliner is a wine that appeals to all levels of wine drinkers. Drawn from the Loess soil, this wine offers excellent complex nuances. TASTING NOTES: This wine excels with aromas and flavors of dried earth, savory spices, chalk, and minerality. Enjoy it with grilled jumbo prawns and broiled oysters. (Tasted: November 24, 2020, San Francisco, CA)
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.