Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Moosbrugger's 2013 Ried Lamm Veltliner is a stunning wine proving the grand cru status of the site, which is situated at the bottom of the southeastern part of the famous Heiligenstein where a higher clay proportion makes it a perfect terroir for Grüner Veltliner. Cool, precise and very complex on the nose, it displays spicy mineral and herbal flavors with subtle fruit delicately integrated. Fermented and aged until July in traditional domestic oak barrels of 2,500 liters, this is a full-bodied, pure and complex wine combing power with piquancy and finesse, as well as a stimulating and lingering salinity in the extraordinary long finish. This great wine tastes like melting stones but is also fruit intense, serene and very elegant. A stunning wine indeed and a must buy.
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Wine Enthusiast
On the nose this is muted, but the palate is full of easy charm. Floral hints meet with ripe pear and that wonderfully leafy, ripe pungent pepperiness. Sleekness, shapely freshness and a bit of playful verve underlines the fact that this is immensely concentrated despite not coming across as heavy.
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Wine Spectator
Rich and filled with plush, creamy flavors of red peach, dried apricot and white pear. Concentrated spice and ripe gooseberry notes linger on the finish, accented by white raspberry details.
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.