Winemaker Notes
Subtle, soft fragrance with delicate aromas of yellow fruit and citrus notes. Crisp and fruit-driven on the palate with enticing apple and quince characters. Medium-bodied with pleasant freshness and vitality, hints of spice on the lingering finish.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A firework display of herbal and green-pepper aromas, as well as some yeasty character that will give this good aging potential for a village wine. Very concentrated and vibrant with near perfect harmony for just 12 per cent alcohol. From biodynamically grown grapes. Respekt certified. Drink or hold.
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Wine Enthusiast
Yeast and reduction give this wine's nose a raw but promising character. Yeast notes also envelop the palate, where ripe pear and bright lemon flavors add verve, roundness and freshness. A salty edge of soy emerges on the long, lemony finish.
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.