7 points

Grüner Veltliner, Steinleithn, 2009, DAC Reserve, Geyerhof, Kremstal, White-wine from Austria

Krems is a little Austrian town on Danube, maybe 100 km upstream of Vienna. A small side valley of a stream called also Krems gives this wine area which is of a manageable size its name. It verges to two other wine areas Wachau and Kamptal. The Krems valley is rather rich of different soils. Although Danube dominates the countryside, traffic- and infrastructures the little valley offers a niche home for some great winemakers. One of them is the vinery Geyerhof in Oberfucha. Already since 1988 (!) family Meyer produce only organic wines.

Considering the amazing quality of wine of this review they produce aside of “the” Austrian sort “Grüner Veltliner” also Riesling, Muscatel, Pinot Blanc and some Zweigel, another original Austrian but red-wine. I haven’t tried any of them.

Steinleithn is one of their top vineyards. It is precisely described on Geyerhof’s webpage: http://www.geyerhof.at/index.php?page=steinleithn-1oetw-en. Since I haven’t visit the vinery I refer to the webpage. Drinking this excellent wine I can confirm that the taste of wine fits to the description of soil – very thin humus on a rocky ground which consist out of crystalline granulite containing quartz, feldspar and some other mineral elements.

The wine rest on tender mineral constituents, it even smells and tastes salty. But on this basis there is a fascinating savoriness of austere flavors of hay, elder, gooseberry and pear. The balance between the mineralic bottom and matured fruitiness makes this wine to something very special. Really powerful, round, a bit creamy and just a luxuriant fresh drinking experience.

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Mentioned this balance it is really interesting to read that the wine fermented and matured only in steel tanks and later bottles. It get not in tough with any wood! And this wine can mature even for years! Although I believe passionate winemakers always try to find answers to weather conditions of each new year and are able to deliver almost always quality on a top level, 2009 was a pretty good vintage of Austrian wines. If you have 2009 or you are able to buy it, it’s very good to drink now. I recommend to decant it. It fits very well too some more spicy fish dishes. Due to the quality you may drink it just without any food.

Vinothek

Grüner Veltliner is probably the most produced wine in Austria. The image of Grüner Veltliner is rather low since there is a lot of unpassionate mass production. Those wines are fresh but many times also sour. Winemakers as of Geyerhof or Loimer (Loimer, Langenlois, Käferberg, Grüner Veltliner, 2008) proof that – with patience and desire – you can create high end wines even out of a rather ordinary sort of grape. I don’t know if this result is also so impressive because it is organic production, imaging all grass flavors I may think so.