Loimer Langenlois Kaferberg Gruner Veltliner 2019
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Wine
Spectator -
Robert
Parker -
James
Suckling
Product Details
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Winemaker Notes
Grüner Veltliner is the signature grape of Austria and produces a dry white wine with savoryaromas, spicy flavors, and good acidity. Young Grüner Veltliner is fresh-tasting with notes of green apple, lemon, radish, and arugula. Lighter styles of Grüner Veltliner are intended for immediate drinking, while more structured examples can age for many years.
Grüner Veltliner’s bright acidity and savory character make it an ideal partner to mildly spiced Vietnamese, Thai, and Chinese dishes. Fish and shellfish are accented by Grüner Veltliner’s citrus and mineral profile while its acidity cuts the richness of pork or ham. It can also work well with foods that are difficult to pair such as bitter greens and asparagus.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
The lush, round feel of this white is initially cut by vivid acidity, framing flavors of peach, citrus, savory herbs and celery root. Balanced, ending with spicy, savory, peppery elements.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The intensely golden-yellow colored 2019 Ried Käferberg 1ÖTW Kamptal Grüner Veltliner opens very intense and upfront on the nose yet without being overly fruity or at least primary fruity. However, this is a very specific, nowadays rather unusual style with rich and ripe, possibly botrytized fruit that is deep, intense, tangy and robust rather than refined on the yeasty nose or, in the best sense, rural, also due to some phenolic notes. The palate is full-bodied, rich, intense and creamy rather than crystalline in the first moment. However, this intense and powerful wine reveals fine crystalline and salty acidity along with seriously firm tannins that make this 2019 Käferberg an excellent choice for intensely spiced dishes. The wine remains robust and grippy on the finish, where it still reveals intensity, tension and structure. Surely not everybody's darling, especially not in context with other, more polished Kamptal Veltliners, but combined with the right dish this could be a perfect match not least due to its power and extracted phenolics. The wine was aged in large oak vats and bottled with 13.5% stated alcohol.
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James Suckling
Butterscotch is not my favorite gruner veltliner aroma and this wine has a stack of it in the nose. Much better on the palate with impressive structure and well-judged tannins that support the medium-full body nicely.
Other Vintages
2015-
Wine
Enthusiast -
Robert
Parker
Fred Loimer started working with his father Alfred in 1988 after completing his studies at Klosterneuburg with stints at Germany’s Nahe and Walter Schug winery in California. Fred took full control of his family’s estate in 1997 and purchased the cellar of the Haindorf Castle on the outskirts of Langenlois. He then constructed a hyper-modern black cube on top of the old cellar symbolizing his aesthetic for modern elegance. Fred began practicing biodynamics in 2006 and is a founding member of Respekt, a certifying body for biodynamic viticulture in Austria. His wines are among the very best examples of Grüner Veltliner and Riesling in the Kamptal. In 2002, he was named “Winemaker of the Year” by Austria's Falstaff wine magazine.
Fun to say and delightfully easy to drink, Grüner Veltliner calls Austria its homeland. While some easily quaffable Grüners come in a one-liter—a convenient size—many high caliber single vineyard bottlings can benefit from cellar aging. Somm Secret—About 75% of the world’s Grüner Veltliner comes from Austria but the variety is gaining ground in other countries, namely Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and the United States.
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.