Winemaker Notes
Concentrated aromas of mandarin, pineapple, lime apricot and dark wet slate—pure minerality.
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
A game-changing dry riesling for the Austrian region of Styria! Enormously complex and vibrant nose of acacia blossom, Amalfi lemon, passion fruit and shiso leaf. Very radical wet stone minerality dominates the sleek and super-concentrated palate. Whiplash finish that’s also brimming with fruit. Dangerously refreshing and enormous aging potential.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
From vines up to 70 years old and very low yields, Wohlmuth's 2021 Ried Edelschuh Riesling GSTK opens with an intense and floral, bright and stony bouquet with good fruit concentration and saline notes. Round and intense on the palate, this is a rich but elegant, persistently saline and stringent Edelschuh with intensity, finesse and tension. From an altitude of 460 to 530 meters above sea level and red and dark-colored slate terroir, the 2021 Edelschuh is pure, grippy and still challenging in its astringency since it contains less than two grams per liter of residual sugar. Due to low yields, this is rich in extract, whereas acidity and pH values represent a cool vintage. Rating: 93+
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.
Appreciated for superior wines made from indigenous varieties, Austria should be on the radar of any curious wine drinker. A rather cool and dry wine growing region, this country produces wine that is quintessentially European in style: food-friendly with racy acidity, moderate alcohol and fresh fruit flavors.
Austria’s viticultural history is rich and vast, dating back to Celtic tribes with first written record of winemaking starting with the Romans. But the 20th century brought Austria a series of winemaking obstacles, namely the plunder of both world wars, as well as its own self-imposed quality breach. In the mid 1980s, after a handful of shameless vintners were found to have added diethylene glycol (a toxic substance) to their sweet wines to imitate the unctuous qualities imparted by botrytis, Austria’s credibility as a wine-producing country was compromised. While no one was harmed, the incident forced the country to rebound and recover stronger than ever. By the 1990s, Austria was back on the playing field with exports and today is prized globally for its quality standards and dedication to purity and excellence.
Grüner Veltliner, known for its racy acidity and herbal, peppery aromatics, is Austria's most important white variety, comprising nearly a third of Austrian plantings. Riesling in Austria is high in quality but not quantity, planted on less than 5% of the country’s vineyard land. Austrian Rieslings are almost always dry and are full of bright citrus flavors and good acidity. Red varietal wines include the tart and peppery Zweigelt, spicy and dense Blaufränkisch and juicy Saint Laurent. These red varieties are also sometimes blended.