Winemaker Notes
Delicate pear fruit, a touch of quince and white peach come through, elegant and lightly flowery; beautiful balance and some body as well as early harmony, restrained pineapple in the background, very earthy, lively acidity on the finish.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Cooked apple and lime aromas with hints of loam. Full body, layered and rich with lots of fruit. A big and fruity style. Lightly sweet. Medium finish
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Zöbing Kamptal Riesling opens with a lovely, clear, refined and floral bouquet of bright fruits and crushed flint stones. Sourced from the "premier crus" Kogelberg, Gaisberg and Heiligenstein and fermented and aged in stainless steel, this is a medium to full-bodied, piquant and racy Riesling of great finesse and distinctive character. The finish is pure, piquant and salty and reveals remarkable finesse and tension. The acidity still needs to be integrated but this wine isn't in a hurry. It has a concentrated but precise fruit of white peaches, good extract and a long, well-structured finish.
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.