2015 Grüner Veltliner Gottschelle

Fritz Miesbauer, cellarmaster Peter Rethaller and their team continue pulling Stift Göttweig toward the elite of its region, as befits the excellent locations of this ecclesiastical estate’s vineyards and their genetic diversity honed by past generations of monk-viticulturists. As in 2014, the Göttweig vines were largely spared by the May 2015 hail that ravaged nearby locations. There is no irrigation in Göttweig’s predominant Right Bank vineyards, but their relatively deep soils saw all but young vines through the hot, dry midsummer stress-free. Picking didn’t start until the end of September, as Miesbauer wanted to ensure adequate ripeness, and while the alcohol level of the lightest wines was marginally higher than in some recent vintages, the resulting collection tops out at only 13.6 percent. Stift Göttweig now farms a tiny parcel of Riesling in Krems’ great Pfaffenberg vineyard – a return to its roots for this monastic estate, which once boasted significant Left Bank holdings, including in that great site – and it is those vines with which that team concluded the Göttweig harvest on October 30, the day picking their Riesling in the Silberbichl. In keeping with recent trends, the wines from sites designated by the Traditionsweingüter as “Erste Lagen” were not bottled until late summer, subsequent to my tasting visit. (For details concerning this estate’s vineyards, practices and recent history, readers are invited to consult the extended introduction to my report on its 2013s, along with an update in my introduction to notes on its 2014s.)