2013 Grüner Veltliner Pellingen

Born in 1992, Patrick Proidl is already working full-time at the family estate. “This is where I feel at home,” he says. He even has his own wine, the Generation X, which he offers in both Riesling and Grüner Veltliner. During our tasting, his father Franz was obviously more than happy to let his son speak first. Given how vertiginous the slopes here can be, I'm sure that he is equally happy to have a son willing to continue in his footsteps rather than seek an easier job in Vienna.

Most of the estate’s vineyards are found in the upper stretches of the Krems Valley, where the granite and slate slopes gradually give way at the top to the woods of Bohemia. Father Franz has spent years reclaiming numerous old sites from the scrub brush and outcroppings that took hold when vineyards were abandoned as other producers thought they were too steep to cultivate. Even today, many shake their heads when they see the Proidls' vines clinging to the rocks of Ehrenfels, Pfeningberg and Hochäcker.

As they harvest late, love acidity and adore wild yeasts, the fermentations can last as long as six months here. “We just let the wines make themselves,” Patrick told me. Not surprisingly, they often only bottle after their neighbors’ wines are sold out. While theirs are generally dry, they have no issue with residual sugar and even make one Riesling that is more like an off-dry Auslese from the Rheingau that they calls Proidl Spricht Deutsch. “I don’t want to see botrytis in my Grüner Veltliner,” says father Franz, “but it can be a welcome component in Riesling,” as the 2012 Trockenbeerenauslese amply proves.

While Patrick thinks the Grüner Veltliners were a tad better in 2013, he is not quite so certain about 2012. “Both varieties did well,” he explained, “but perhaps the Rieslings will mature more gracefully.” With a total production of only 80,000 bottles that are sold out quickly, these are wines that you’ll need to seek out and lay down in your own cellars if you want to follow their evolution.