Prefer the old site?Launch →

Weingut Wieninger

Although he projects the energy and ambition of a young man, not to mention still looking the part, Fritz Wieninger had already became the vinous face of his city when I began tasting in Austria 20 years ago. His flair and knack for public relations, which led him to take the leading role in banding together six of Vienna’s best growers for marketing purposes, may back then have been even more important than the quality of his wines, but what has emerged from Wieninger’s cellar since has convincingly, not to mention deliciously, demonstrated why Viennese wine today deserves the same international respect that it was accorded a century and more ago. And apropos his cellar, Wieninger recently completed the awe-inspiring restoration and remodeling of a vast facility, near his original winery and wine tavern, that was long monastically owned and last served as a brewery.

From a core of family vineyard holdings both around Stammersdorf and the nearby neighboring foot of the Bisamberg on the Danube’s better-known Left Bank, Wieninger has steadily grown to some 70 hectares. He is among numerous Austrian growers to have converted to biodynamic methods a half dozen years ago, and has since, as have his wines themselves, spoken eloquently—yet in his case quite open-mindedly—on their behalf. With the exception of the ostensibly intro-level Grüner Veltliner called simply “Wien” (or, in the U.S. version, “Wiener Berge,” about which you can read my review to discover how “simple” it really is!), all of the Wieninger wines now ferment spontaneously, with élevage varying between tank and cask. In addition to his Rieslings, Grüner Veltliners and Gemischte Sätze, Wieninger also renders distinctive Muskatellers and Traminers as well as serious wines from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

On two recent visits to Wieninger I sampled wines from the vineyards of restaurateur Stefan Hajszan, who formerly vinified in a Grinzing cellar but has, after taking on a new partner, decided to farm out future winemaking to Wieninger. Despite the quality of Hajszan’s biodynamically farmed vineyards manifested both by visits to them and tastings of his previous wines, initial releases under the new Hajszan-Neumann label, even from 2013, left me disappointed and puzzled by their awkward, at times diffuse, at times underripe personalities. Wieninger merely finished and bottled those 2013s, assuming complete responsibility for vinification only with the 2014s; I’ll try to catch up with this joint project again during the course of 2016.

From 2013: A Great Vintage for Austrian Riesling and Grüner Veltliner (Nov 2015) by David Schildknecht

Reviews

Wines

Sort by default

2013 Grüner Veltliner Wiener Berge

Release Price: $22

Color: White

Subscriber Access Only

Weingut Wieninger

2013 Grüner Veltliner Wiener Berge

2013 Grüner Veltliner Herrenholz

2013 Grüner Veltliner Nussberg

2013 Grüner Veltliner Kaasgraben

2013 Grüner Veltliner Preussen

2013 Riesling Wiener Berge

2013 Riesling Nussberg

2013 Riesling Rosengartl

2013 Wiener Gemischter Satz

2013 Wiener Gemischter Satz Bisamberg

2013 Gemischter Satz Nussberg Alte Reben

2013 Wiener Gemischter Satz Rosengartl

2013 Chardonnay Classic

2013 Chardonnay Select

2012 Chardonnay Grand Select

2013 Pinot Noir Select

2012 Pinot Noir Grand Select

Content

Engage

Vinous

Social