Winemaker Notes
The cold winds from the northwest chill down this hill as soon the sun goes down, so the fine fruit aromas in the berries are preserved. The combination of microclimate and soil creates a wine with a crystalline structure and pure fruit.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
The slightest whiff of reduction swings alongside the fresh pear notes on the nose. The palate comes in with lovely freshness and a vivid spray of white pepper that disperses among juicy, ripe notions of yellow pear. The palate is vivid and mellow but balanced and fresh, managing a note of lightness and ease in this warm vintage.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Grüner Veltliner Ried Loiserberg 1ÖTW displays an intense and brilliant golden-yellow color and a deep, crystalline nose with flinty and herbal aromas. On the palate, this is a lean and elegant, salty-piquant and structured, well-balanced and persistent Veltliner with fine phenolic grip on the finish.
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.