Winemaker Notes
Vital and dignified, penetrating play of fruits and fine aroma of blossoms, pinch of pepper; impressively full-bodied, again spicy, some citrus and strong Veltliner pepperiness, nervous structure, harmonious.
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
It would be hard to find a grüner veltliner that’s as mouthwatering as this one, with its salty green-olive notes. That saline tang draws out the sweetness and zing of its pink-grapefruit flavors, and highlights the wine’s firm mineral savor. It lasts, full-bodied and savory, with a mile-long finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Langenlois Grüner Veltliner displays a very clear, fresh and elegant, crystalline and flinty bouquet of white fruits. On the palate, this is a lush and bright, very elegant and balanced Veltliner with good freshness, finesse and a stimulatingly salty finish. Sourced in the Spiegel, Thal and Freiheit, the 2018 already drinks beautifully and impresses by its refreshing brightness, balance and finesse. Tasted at the domain in September 2019.
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.