Bottler: HM Lang,Steinspreng 6, A-3500 Stein/Donau / Austria
In the glass
Colour
Medium straw yellow.
Nose
Highly refined and subtle: white-fleshed fruit, grapefruit and lemon, along with herbs, stone, pear cream, a hint of brioche, fine oak, a trace of vanilla and ethereal mint.
Palate
Creamy and silky from the long ageing on the lees, with ripe, vital acidity; at once cool, vibrant and mineral – full-bodied yet slender, sinewy and taut.
Character
A highly distinctive Veltliner that moves far away from the classic varietal profile – complex, energetic and precise, at just 11.5% abv.
Pairing
Roasted white asparagus with egg yolk cream and lemongrass emulsion, karaage with Japanese mayonnaise or pork and prawn dim sum.
Notes
Harvested early at pH 3.0, spontaneously fermented and aged for over two years on the gross lees in a Stockinger wooden cask, whose first use lends this vintage its clear wood imprint; bottled unfiltered. Named after the badgers living in the loess of the vineyard site, which are joined by foxes during cold winters.
Tasting note
Colour & appearance
Medium straw yellow, dense and clear in the glass.
Nose
Highly elegant, far removed from the usual Veltliner image: white-fleshed fruit, ripe and crisp, alongside grapefruit and lemon, herbs and cool stone. Behind the precise fruit lie pear cream, a hint of brioche, fine oak, a trace of vanilla and an ethereal touch of mint. The variety’s spiciness is wonderfully captured. A Burgundy glass or a carafe does this wine a great deal of good.
Palate
Initially creamy and melting, carried by ripe, vital acidity. The long ageing on the lees lends silky elegance, yet beneath it lies a cool, vibrant, mineral tension. Body and power are present, but the wine remains strict and sinewy in the best sense – slender, firm, energetic.
Finish
Long, cool and precise, with a clearly integrated wood imprint and a mineral aftertaste.
Terroir & origin
The Riede Braunsdorfer in Stein an der Donau lies in a side valley at around 250 metres above sea level: very steep, with small terraces and four to five metres of loess soil over bare rock. The roughly 50-year-old vines are complemented by a small proportion of 90-year-old Veltliner from the Steiner Schreck. The name? Badgers dig their setts in the loess – and in cold winters the foxes join them until it grows warmer.
Grape variety & vinification
Markus Lang, a former Airbus engineer, harvested on 31 August – at physiological ripeness and pH 3.0, which yielded just 11.5% alcohol. Pressing took place extremely slowly over two days on his self-built 100-tonne wooden press. Spontaneous fermentation, followed by more than two years on the gross lees in a large Stockinger cask, whose first use was marked by this vintage; bottled unfiltered in November 2020.
Food recommendations
A wine for fine cuisine: roasted white asparagus with egg yolk cream and lemongrass emulsion, karaage with Japanese mayonnaise or pork and prawn dim sum with glass noodle salad and coriander.
Special features
The earliest harvest Lang has ever brought in – and yet this wine lacks nothing. Demeter-certified estate, maturation on the gross lees for over two years, reductive pressing followed by deliberate oxidation of the juice: a clearly conceived concept that changes one’s view of Grüner Veltliner without distorting it.
