Winemaker Notes
Bright, chalky minerality on the nose, accompanied by white flowers, green mangoes, delicate apple, and lentils, with a cool, spicy note of lemon thyme. On the palate, citrus fruits and pome fruits intermingled with yellow fruits, grippy and mineral, a hint of finely ground white pepper, plenty of umami in the long finish.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
A juicy, open-knit version, with nice range to its herbal mix -- saffron, sage, thyme and grass -- and supple orchard fruit. Smoky mineral notes course through the medium-weight palate, while cooling alpine herbs and white pepper add lift. Drink now through 2028. 75 cases imported.
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.