2013 Riesling Silberbichl

Gerald Malat and his son Michael enjoy an outstanding reputation for one of the most wide-ranging portfolios in Austria, encompassing Riesling and Grüner Veltliner from the Left Bank eastern edge of the Wachau as well as the adjacent Kremstal; often seriously successful red wines, ranging from Pinot to Cabernet, grown largely on riverside gravel; some of Austria’s best sparkling wines; plus varying renditions of Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Traminer and Muscat. Fortunately, Riesling here staged a modest 2013 recovery after weak 2012 performances. Paradoxically, though, I found the Grüner Veltliners--as always, the Malats’ strongest whites--less expressive and satisfying than were their 2012 counterparts. “Our aim,” says Malat senior, explaining a stylistic evolution familiar from many Austrian wineries, “is to bring to the fore a greater sense of levity in our Grüner Veltliners without sacrificing richness of flavor.”

Although picking here in 2013 commenced in the end of September, the bulk of the harvest did not take place until the second half of October and early November. Some musts were allowed longer than usual skin contact to ameliorate their high acidity.

When I passed through the village of Palat in early February, Michael Malat was with his agent in Japan visiting clients, and looking forward to a weekend of skiing in Hokkaido. It was an interesting twist of fate for me, though, as it gave me the chance to taste the current range of wines with his father Gerald, who built this estate to its current 50 hectares of vines before turning over it over to his son in 2008.

While it was the Höhlgraben Grüner Veltliner that was the foundation of his success, he was also the first in Austria to make an estate-bottled sparkling wine in 1976, which partially explains why Malat is still well known for its bubblies. As surprising as it may sound today, a separation of rights meant that until then it had been illegal for grape growers to make Sekt.

As long as Malat Senior was in charge, the estate sold almost all of their wine in Austria. “It was my son who pushed exports,” he informed me. That's hardly surprising, for with his wavy blond hair and youthful enthusiasm, Michael Malat would be at home in the Napa Valley, on the shores of Cape Town or in the Barossa Valley. The supple, almost unctuous style of wine Malat Junior favors also has--or at least has had in the recent past--a decidedly New World ring.

That had often been my only criticism of these wines, but then nature also pushes them in that direction as well. The soils are heavier here than on the northern banks of the Danube, which can be constructive in dry year but is more difficult in wet ones. Further, the Pannonian influence is stronger here, so that it is a bit warmer in Palt than in the steep slopes behind Krems. In the past few vintages, though, wines that I once found too rich and opulent have become lighter and more elegant. That is particularly true of the 2013s, with the Grüner Veltliners being slightly more impressive than the Rieslings.