Winemaker Notes
Almost exotic fruit flair,practically leaps from the glass with pineapple and Williams pear, incredibly penetrating and fine-pored,spirited, indeed peppery; multilayered extracted sweetness, smooth texture and elegantly drawn, long very racy finish, an exemplary Riesling from the Kamptal with a long life to look forward to.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
The nose is still closed but already whispers of fragrant citrus show. The palate strikingly combines a core of ultraripe fruit—think juicy mandarin, golden peach and gorgeously aromatic blood orange—and a masterful lightness of touch. The freshness is chiselled and precise, the finish is lasting and impressive, but never losing its unforced gentle nature and the lightest touch.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2015 Ried Heiligenstein 1ÖTW is super intense and aromatic on the nose on the first day, as if it were a Muscat, and on the second like Riesling from the Heiligenstein! The nose indicates a great mix of concentrated fruit aromas and crushed stones! Full-bodied, dense and intense on the palate, this is a lush and piquant yet pure and very salty Heiligenstein with great tension, finesse and fine grip. It's perhaps the finest Heiligenstein that has been produced at Schloss Gobelsburg so far! Tasted in July 2017.
Riesling possesses a remarkable ability to reflect the character of wherever it is grown while still maintaining its identity. A regal variety of incredible purity and precision, this versatile grape can be just as enjoyable dry or sweet, young or old, still or sparkling and can age longer than nearly any other white variety. Somm Secret—Given how difficult it is to discern the level of sweetness in a Riesling from the label, here are some clues to find the dry ones. First, look for the world “trocken.” (“Halbtrocken” or “feinherb” mean off-dry.) Also a higher abv usually indicates a drier Riesling.
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.