Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
What a breathtaking nose this great dry riesling has, a cornucopia of stone fruit and wild herbs cascading from the glass. Gigantic concentration of crushed-stone character, but also incredibly beautiful fruit that exactly counterbalances the mineral acidity that drives the diamond-bright finish. From biodynamically grown grapes with Respekt certification. Drink or hold.
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Vinous
The 2021 Riesling Ried Gaisberg opens with a pure note of tangerine—serene, subtle and scented. The palate is as chiseled and sharp as you imagine the foliated splinters of mica schist to be, toning the riper, scented tangerine into fully ripe, aromatic lemon zest. This is direct and unmitigated—nakedly stony, absolutely chiseled and tense. A most vivid, taut Riesling with immense aromatic power and very fine bones, this is long, glorious, ripe, absolutely balanced and so linear. (Bone-dry)
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Hirsch's 2021 Zöbing Riesling Ried Gaisberg 1ÖTW opens with a clear, pure, fascinating and complex nose with ripe, white-seed fruit aromas intertwined with dusty and smoky notes of crushed (mica) schist. Round, fresh and elegant on the palate, this is a lush and aromatic yet crystalline, vital and stimulating Riesling with a long and intense, well-concentrated but elegant, pure, refined and saline finish that reveals white and green tea aromas. This is one of the Kamptal's outstanding 2021 Rieslings, or even whites in general, and it's surely one of the finest Gaisberg Rieslings here for about a decade, possibly even longer.
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.