RIESLINGFEIER PART 2 - AUSTRIA

[Wachau, Kremstal and Kamptal from southwest to northeast]

Although one tends to associate Riesling with Germany, Austria is just as important for dry iterations in addition to its main white native grape: Gruner Veltliner. Austria grows about 1/2 as much Riesling as Germany in surface area and it is almost always dry, somewhat higher in alcohol and from a wide variety of soil types. The best examples also hail from the best regions for Gruner Veltliner, namely the Wachau, Kamptal and Kremstal all next to or near the Danube. In general, these vineyards are split in half topographically with the lower parts planted to Gruner due to the loess rich soils and Riesling on the upper stony slopes and terraces. We are thrilled to offer a slew of Rieslings (and Gruner) from the Wachau and Kamptal for your enjoyment and edification.

Our first Austrian vintner is from the western end of the Wachau in Weissenkirchen: Prager. Run until recently by Toni Bodenstein aka the mayor of Weissenkirchen, it is now in the capable hands of his son and fiance Robert Bodenstein and Sophie-Helen Hinterhölzl as seen in the photo visiting Chambers Street Wines this past December. Prager is considered one of the Wachau's heavyweights and their wines have always shown an incredible minerality and purity alongside great phenolic grip and concentration. As the western Wachau is cooler than its eastern brethren, harvest times can be anywhere from a week to two later. This produces wines of great lift and acidity with ripe fruit from a longer hang time.

Crossing the Danube by ferry from Weissenkirchen, we arrive on the "southern" bank and continue due east to the next bend in the river to the town of Rossatz. Here we find the winery of Josef Fischer. The land is flatter here and the slopes start farther back from the river. From more of a hill than a mountain full of paragneiss, the vineyards produce wines of great fruit aromatics with hints of petrol and dark minerality.

Moving directly east, we cross the bridge across the Danube to the famed touristic town of Durnstein and its castle above known as the prison of Richard the Lionheart, kidnapped by the townsfolk on his return from the Crusades and held for ransom! It is also the home to Wachau heavyweight F.X Pichler. Now run by son Lucas and wife Johanna (in town for Rieslingfeier), they converted to organic and left the Vinea Wachau in 2020. Although one of its founding members, FX and Lucas agreed that with global warming, there was to no longer a use for the ripeness classification of Steinfeder, Federspiel and Smaragd since the French DAC system was adopted in Austria the same year. As Lucas explains in an article in Wine Spectator: " "We want to show with our wines the terroir in our best vineyards, no matter how high the sugar level is when we reach the physiological ripeness". Their wines have always exemplified the power of their terroir with each vineyard portraying different characteristics.

Heading directly east 10 minutes around the bend in the Danube, we arrive at Unterloiben, the home to Alzinger (as seen in the photo of Leo and Katherina taken at their winery this past April). In town for Rieslingfeier, Leo explains that his style is all about precision and elegance. Like the Pichlers, he seeks to showcase the different personalities of the vineyards, describing them as children. "Located just across the street from Knoll, the Alzingers own parcels in two of the great vineyards in this part: Loibenberg and Steinertal. Loibenberg is a towering, terraced hillside, while the diminutive Steinertal is hidden and maintains a cooler micro-climate." Their Muhlpoint Gruner sits at the base of the latter Steinertal and is cultivated on the lower, silty, loess based parcel. This is the easternmost vineyard on the north side of the Danube before the Kremstal.

Driving through the Kremstal northeast up to the Kamptal, we arrive at the main town of Lagenlois, where we find the Hiedler winery and its wines.

Having already written about them, for the purpose of this article, we continue north, finally reach Zobing, in the mountainous region sliced in half by the Kamp River (a tributary of the Danube). This is where we find Barabara Ohlzelt, whose Gruner Veltliner Leader in a liter bottle has been a long time staple at Chambers Street Wines. In addition to Gruners, she also makes entrancing Rieslings, brilliant like diamonds in the cool, mountainous terroir. As described by her importer Vom Boden: "Barbara is the Weiser-Künstler of the Kamptal, translated from Mosel slate to the dialect of the Kamptal – loess, granite and sandstone. The wines are loaded with mouth-watering acidity and the alcohol levels are carefully restrained. She champions the lesser-known sites; she eschews textures and winemaking extremes in favor of linear focus and quiet, simmering intensity."

We hope you will enjoy this Austrian Rieslingfeier with some schnitzel, sausages and potato cucumber salad with great company and do a comparative tasting. PROST!

-Giselle Hamburg

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