Spent a day in the Wachau region in Austria with its spectacular scenery of terraced vineyards in the narrow valley of the Danube, and its beautiful Rieslings and Grüner Veltliners. We visited some of the region’s giants: Franz Hirtzberger with his powerful, late-picked, botrytis-affected wines from Spitz; Rudi Pichler with his meticulous, modern, puristic approach and transparent wines (the 2009 Kirchweg Riesling has fantastic punch and dimension, and is one of my wines of the vintage); Knoll with his very classic, long-maturing, alluringly spicy wines from the warmer Loiben vineyards.
Franz Hirtzberger Jr. in the spectacular Singerriedel vineyard.
But it was a 2-hour tasting with Toni Bodenstein at the Prager winery that proved the most memorable. Though defining himself as Homo rusticus, Bodenstein has a fantastically thorough approach and one of the deepest knowledge of the vine and terroir that I’ve come across. If you think the geological difference between gneiss, paragneiss and amphibolite have nothing to do with the wine in your glass, taste Prager’s two Rieslings from the Achleiten and Klaus vineyards: basically coming from adjacent parcels on the same hill but on different rock formations, the wines are like night and day, the Klaus an acidic, skinny, inquisitive, stern creature and the Achleiten its solar, open-minded, high-spirited opposite.
Toni Bodenstein: Wachau’s deepest mind?
The 2009 Rieslings here are impressive but the Grüner Veltliners are simply awesome (especially in the context of other 2009s, often excessively soft and rich). Bodenstein made the wise decision of acquiring many old vineyards when he took up the property: now these 1940s and 1950s plantings are delivering wines of great depth and complexity. It has also encouraged Bodenstein to reappreciate and saveguard the old clones of Grüner Veltliner that can be found in those old vineyards. The Wachstum Bodenstein, from a small parcel in the Achleiten that was replanted in 2003 with selected old cuttings from a variety of sourced in the Wachau and other regions in Austria, is a glowing testimony to the complexity and dimension that is lost when just a few ‘approved’ clones are reproduced by vine nurseries and replanted on a large scale by wineries. And yet this wine is towered by the 2009 Stockkultur Grüner Veltliner: painstakingly farmed at a record 16,000 vines/hectare on high narrow terraces are forgotten old clones going back to 1937, giving amazing complexity with a vibrant vegetal sappiness and spicy reminiscences of the Orient.
Rudi Pichler (not) posing for a photo.
No relation to the wine in your glass? On the very contrary; the genetic diversity of our grape varieties is a crucial issue for the future of viticulture and winemaking.
Disclaimer
Accomodation during my stay in the Wachau is paid for by the Austrian Wine Marketing Board. All wines were provided by the producers.
Hi again,I tasted some of the Prager-wines as well. I really agree on the descriptions you made about the Achleiten and Klaus rieslings. Have you tasted the Wachstum Bodenstein riesling as well? What was your opinion about that one? It was closer in style to the Achleiten, or the Klaus, or something completely different?I also really liked the Rudi Pichler Kirchweg riesling 09. (I retasted it last weak, and it was really nice. Did you try the Achleiten and Steinriegl as well?
I thought the 3 top 2009 Rieslings from Prager were not too far away in quality or style… Of course Klaus is always a bit more restrained and so it was here (some medicinal notes on nose), Achleiten with some extra ripeness. IMO the Wachstum Bodenstein Riesling came closer to the Achleiten, with a ripe, sappy impression in taste. They are all distinctive but quality-wise very close.
With Rudi Pichler, I found the differences more pronounced. I'm less a fan of his style, and the 2009 Achleiten Riesling was perhaps a little too ripe and alcohol for my tastes (it also has an almost green banana note in the aromatics). The Steinriegl was fairly ungiving when tasted in June; it has a buttery texture similar to the Achleiten. But I agree with you on the Kirchweg – a very impressive wine. The more remote vineyard site with plenty of stones makes for a wine of great mineral purity and that extra zest that I found lacking in the other two.