2015 Sieveringer Gemischter Satz Ringelspiel

I was shocked on arriving at Jutta Ambrositsch and Marco Kalchbrenner’s to learn that after a single harvest, they had terminated their promising project in Gumpoldskirchen, about which I wrote extensively and enthusiastically when I reviewed their wines of vintage 2014. It was not so much the 20-mile commute from Vienna and certainly not the quality of the 2014s that changed their mind, but rather the prospect of being able to enhance their vine holdings in Vienna with some old Gemischte Sätze on the Nussberg, including in the famed Preussen vineyard. “The Gumpoldskirchen plan didn’t allow for any further expansion,” explained Ambrositsch, who puts a premium on being able to give personal, meticulous attention to her vines, best accomplished if they aren’t too numerous or too far away from one another. And as she further confided, Vienna is her home in much more than a literal sense. (One last wine from Gumpoldskirchen was a 2015 Welschriesling fermented on the skins, unsulfured, and due to have been bottled late in 2016. Unfortunately, the new Allier barrique that Ambrositsch and Kalchbrenner had been gifted and in which this took place completely swamped any other aromas and dried the finish.) “We had to pick early to make sure things didn’t get overripe,” related Ambrositsch of 2015, “and as it is, the results are decidedly opulent.” My notes, though, point out some exceptions to that last generalization. This collection definitely advertises the potential advantages of field blends in marrying fruit at various levels of ripeness and, in the best instances, conveying freshness even if one or two varieties in the blend might have lost acidity or be teetering on the edge of overripeness. Labels for Ambrositsch Gemischte Sätze now indicate (albeit in small print) the appropriate village – or, if you will, the city district – so I have incorporated those names into my descriptions. (For details concerning this estate’s vineyards, practices and recent history, including accounts of the grape varieties and microclimates associated with its Gemischte Sätze, I encourage readers to consult the extended introductions to my reports on its 2013s and 2014s.)