Winemaker Notes
A hallmark of the estate are the ‘Tradition’ bottlings of Grüner Veltliner and Riesling. Having read the meticulous notations of the Cistercians at the estate over the past 150 years, Michi pays homage in his role as cellar master, responsible for the ‘education’ of his ‘pupils’ –wine- while leading them through elevage; as opposed to acting as ‘winemaker,’ whose decisions in present day Austria are generally to preserve aromatics and fruit through extremely reductive methods.
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Entirely from the Gaisberg cru, the 2017 Riesling Tradition displays a clear and flinty, intense, fresh and complex bouquet of ripe and concentrated stone fruits intertwined with notes of crushed stones and herbal tea. On the palate, this is a rich and concentrated, lush and fruity Riesling with a sustainable, salty-piquant and well-structured, highly stimulating finish. This is a great wine made to age for a decade and more. Tasted at Schloss Grafenegg and at the domain in September 2019.
-
Wine Enthusiast
Very pure note of ripe Mirabelle plum are twinned with an equally pure notion of lemon. The palate comes in with concentrated juiciness that is framed and contained by fresh tangerine notions. Here and there are glimpses of passion fruit, but it all draws to a most wonderful zestiness at the core that lasts all the way to the dry, tingling, ripe citrus finish. Lovely now, it is certain to evolve.
-
James Suckling
A riper, headier style of riesling that shows mango dessert, apple crumble, butterscotch and dried flowers. Full-bodied and very oily on the palate with clear weightiness and muscle.
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.