Winemaker Notes
The base wine for this Blanc de Blancs is derived from three different varieties (Grüner Veltliner, Welschriesling and Chardonnay) selected from different sites close to the estate. The grapes are hand-picked at the right grade of ripeness, laid in small boxes, immediately transported to the winery and gently processed. Only the core of the pressing is used for the first fermentation. The base wine matures for six month in oak casks. Then the wine is bottled for the second fermentation. It rests for three years on the lees, which contributes to the creamy texture, it is hand riddled and then disgorged.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Based on the 2017 vintage and dosed as brut in March 2020, the NV Blanc de Blancs is a cuvée of Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc and Welschriesling, all fermented in 5,000-liter oak vats. The intensely yellow-colored wine offers a very rich and intense nose of ripe fruits with buttercup, grassy and flinty notes, from a bigger glass with more refreshing citrus and intense brioche aromas. Fresh on the palate, this is an elegant, stunningly pure and stimulating sparkling wine that is less opulent than the nose. The wine is vital and lemony on the finish, revealing a firm structure and fine grip.
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Wine Enthusiast
Flinty reduction hovers on the nose before the palate brings lemony freshness to the fore. While stony notes persist, lemon brightness and a fine, creamy mousse make for a superfresh and elegant body. The finish is dry and long.
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James Suckling
Sliced apples, fresh herbs and lemon shortbread on the nose, followed by a bright, tangy and medium-bodied palate with zesty acidity and a biscuity character. Nicely done.
A term typically reserved for Champagne and Sparkling Wines, non-vintage or simply “NV” on a label indicates a blend of finished wines from different vintages (years of harvest). To make non-vintage Champagne, typically the current year’s harvest (in other words, the current vintage) forms the base of the blend. Finished wines from previous years, called “vins de reserve” are blended in at approximately 10-50% of the total volume in order to achieve the flavor, complexity, body and acidity for the desired house style. A tiny proportion of Champagnes are made from a single vintage.
There are also some very large production still wines that may not claim one particular vintage. This would be at the discretion of the winemaker’s goals for character of the final wine.
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.