Winemaker Notes
Chardonnay has been grown in Burgenland for a long time. When planted on limestone soils, it yields the best wines worldwide. It is exactly such limestone soils which are encountered on the Leithagebirge. The interplay between soil and Burgenland’s Pannonian climate produces a mouth-filling, elegant wine with slightly spicy aromas and flavors.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Full of ripe citrus with a touch of lemon curd and a delicate kiss of oak, this chardonnay has excellent ripeness for its medium body. The chalky acidity lifting, keeping it bright on the creamy mid-palate and at the substantial finish. From vineyards on chalk-rich soils. Fermented and matured in large oak casks that have been used for at least five years. Left on the full lees in cask for six months. Drink or hold.
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Vinous
The 2022 Chardonnay Leithakalk was harvested in the Tatschler, Gloria, Neusatz and Tatterstein vineyards and fermented and aged on gross lees for half a year in large barrel. The nose has the full fruit of yellow plum, ripe and smooth, with a slight edge of dried corn husk. The palate is rounded with ripeness, subtle texture and concentration. Freshness makes the mouth water. The 2022 is gentle, mild and smooth without prominent wood. (Bone-dry)
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
The source of Austria’s finest botrytized sweet wines, Burgenland covers a lofty portion of Austria's wine producing real estate. It encompasses the smaller regions of Neusiedlersee, Neusiedlersee-Hügelland, Mittelburgenland and Südburgenland. The latter two are most associated with their exceptional red wines. The region as a whole produces no shortage of important whites.
Neusiedlersee, named for the lake that it surrounds to the east, is home to a great diversity of grape varieties. The region’s most notable wines, however, are the botrytis-infected, sweet versions.
Neusiedlersee-Hügelland, which wraps the lake on its western side, includes the town of Rust, a historically esteemed wine community. Its close proximity to the lake’s fog and mist make it another source of some of the more prestigious botrytized wines. Neusiedlersee-Hügelland also produces fine Blaufränkisch, Pinot Blanc, Neuburger and Grüner Veltliner, though a label will usually name the more general, Burgenland, so as not to confuse it with its eastern cousin, Neusiedlersee, across the lake.
Blaufränkisch is well suited to and makes up over half of the vineyard area in Mittelburgenland. The region’s hills and plateaus, which are composed of variations in schist, loess and clay-limestone, produce high quality reds with interesting diversity.
Südburgenland, also known for its deep, complex and age-worthy Blaufränkisch, is beginning to turn out some alluring whites from Grüner Veltliner, Welschriesling and Weissburgunder (Pinot Blanc).