Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This has aromas of lemon tea, grapefruit, white beans and hazelnuts. Creamy and full-bodied with excellent density. Long and textured. Sustainable. Drink now or hold.
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Vinous
The 2021 Grüner Veltliner Charming Reserve, from grapes grown across Kamptal and vinified in stainless steel, has the slightest note of blossom honey on its shy nose. The palate is concentrated and has let go of its youthful fruit. It provides a sleek sense of concentration and linearity. The 2021 is elegant, poised, fresh and beautifully pervasive, with a lasting finish.
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Wine Spectator
A medium-bodied white marked by white cherry, lemon oil and chamomile flavors. Boasts bittersweet lemon-lime acidity, which offsets the richness of custard and white mocha elements through the well-hewn finish. Drink now. 400 cases imported.
Laurenz V was created for white wine lovers everywhere. The winery focuses on a single wine variety--Grüner Veltliner--that has long been a favorite in its native Austria, where it represents nearly a third of the country's wine grape production. Grüner Veltliner has been quickly catching on in the rest of the world, too!
Laurenz V is made by the Lenz Moser family, and is the most recent offering in the family's five generations of wine making experience. The wine comes from the Kamptal and Kremstal areas of lower Austria where the warmth of the Danube Valley meets the cool air of the Waldviertel region. This combination develops fresh, fruity flavors in grapes while maintaining excellent acidity. The winery makes two wines—Laurenz V. Charming Grüner Veltliner from Kamptal, and Laurenz und Sophie Singing Grüner Veltliner, a wine inspired by Lenz' daughter Sophie, predominantly from Kremstal.
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.