Erste Lage, Kamptal DAC Reserve

The Bründlmayer family owns 10 hectares on the "Zöbinger Heiligenstein". 9 hectares are planted with Riesling, the remainder with Cabernet. About a quarter of the vineyards are trained in the Lyre system. Other Heiligenstein vines are trained in the traditional Guyot method on wire trellises with the small berries hanging 50-60 centimeters above the soil.

From a geological point of view the Zöbinger Heiligenstein is not only the oldest but probably also the most interesting site of our estate: the soil consists of about 270 Mio years old desert sandstone with volcanic inclusions, providing an ideal precondition for growing outstanding wines.

Beginning in the 1920’s, without the help of mortar wine terraces of natural stone were laid in the vineyards that now give the grapes for Riesling Heiligenstein Alte Reben. Original Riesling vines of the Heiligenstein have been bred throughout the decades by cloning and layering. Today the old vines average 50 years of age with the oldest reaching as many as 75 years.

Older vines are less productive, forming fewer and smaller grapes that profit from a well-developed root system. This root system reaches deeply into the ground and supplies its fruit with potent nourishment. Consequently, wines of these vineyards are extremely flavorful with enormous concentration.  The last part of the grapes has been brought in at the beginning of December, after a selective harvest that also earned us a barrel of Beerenauslese.

Yield: 2500 liters per hectare

Alcohol: 13,5 %

Tasting note:

Stephen Brook, Decanter Magazine, Guide Austria 2017:
Indisputably one of Austria’s greatest white wines, this comes from old vines grown on primary rock. The nose is pungent, powerful and very mineral. A hint of sweetness on the palate is balanced by the high acidity, and overall this is taut, intense, majestic, and very long.

Viktor Siegl:
Full bouquet of peaches and pineapple and honey as well as mineral and spicy flavors; on the palate full-bodied and concentrated, pineapple dried abricots roasted chocolate beans and white peaches honey flowers, powerful although pure and precise, balanced with elegant acidity and multilayered extract, excellent grip, very long spicy and mineral finish, and really promising potential.

Food pairing:
classic Austrian cuisine, well-seasoned fish and white meat, Asian food, duck in different styles. A more mature sample would do very well with fish in cream sauces, etc.


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