2012 Grüner Veltliner Tradition

In 1996, wine lover and former Alpine hotelier Michael Moosbrugger took over from the Monastery of Zwettl the huge acreage, cellar and palatial headquarters of Schloss Gobelsburg. After several years of tutelage and collaboration with his friend and new neighbor Willi Bründlmayer, Moosbrugger and his wines quickly emerged to stardom of their own. Few wine growers I know are more thoughtful and articulate or bring to bear on their work a wider cultural perspective than does Moosbrugger, who while establishing a highly distinctive approach not just with Riesling and Grüner Veltliner but also with Pinot Noir, St. Laurent and Zweigelt has also explored the historical roots of Gobelsburg wine under his ecclesiastical predecessors, replicating them with memorable “Tradition” bottlings of Riesling and Grüner Veltliner featuring crushing, minimal settling, skin contact, and 20 months of élevage. Moosbrugger is also chairman of the Traditionsweingüter Österreichs, which brings together the top Lower Austrian estates outside the Wachau, and has been the driving force behind both their vineyard classification and their recent decision to withhold from release until September their top wines from classified vineyards.

Despite the dominance of white wines numerically and in establishing his reputation, Moosbrugger explains that in one important respect red wine takes priority at Schloss Gobelsburg, namely insofar as insuring healthy fruit and, where necessary, selective picking of Pinot & Co. demands that the estate crew devotes its undivided attention to completing the red wine harvest before commencing to pick the whites. Some years, that constraint proves a distinct advantage. In 2013, the reds are amazingly promising thanks to their having reached genuine ripeness early, while Riesling and Grüner Veltliner needed a much longer time on the vine, which combined with rain pushed back their harvest into the largely excellent weather of late October and the first half of November. As Riesling was sensitive to late-developing botrytis in this sector, Moosbrugger left most of his Grüner Veltliner for last, and given the results we can only be thankful for that. In keeping with both this estate’s recent track record and the nature of the 2013 vintage, there has never been a finer Gobelsburg collection. The top wines as a group are notable for an impression of buoyancy, even though the Grüner Veltliners hover around 13.5% alcohol.

As Michael Mossbrugger was in Sri Lanka when I visited Schloss Gobelsburg in February, I had the opportunity to taste the 2013s with sales manager Freddy Unterganschnigg. While I missed the chance to hear Mossbrugger play the piano, Unterganschnigg is certainly more talkative. Yes, each wine should speak for itself, but I enjoy hearing how producers interpret the nuances of various sites, soils and vintages.

While this old Cistercian monastery was already an important producer before Michael Mossbrugger and Willi Bründlmayer began managing the property in 1996, Schloss Gobelsburg now makes almost 600,000 bottles a year from the some 70 hectares that they own, lease or purchase fruit from. Unusual is the fact that Schloss Gobelsburg, a bit like Schloss Johannisberg in the Rheingau, is both a producer and a vineyard site. But because they make only a single wine from their finest sites such as Renner or Lamm, they then merely write the vineyard on the front label, relegating the grape variety to the back label.

While their entry-level offerings can sometimes appear rather simple or commercial, at their best the Gobelsburg wines have a style of their own and stand out in blind tastings. Seldom rich and certainly not alcoholic, these wines thrive with little residual sugar and have a thirst-quenching drinkability that you do not often find in Austria. Further, these are not small lots, which makes the quality that much more impressive. Interestingly, about a quarter of their total production is red, but I rarely taste these wines. When Unterganschnigg showed me their two Zweigelts from 2012 during our tasting, I was pleasantly surprised. They also make St. Laurent, Pinot Noir and Merlot.