Bottler: HM Lang,Steinspreng 6, A-3500 Stein/Donau / Austria
In the glass
Colour
Pale golden yellow in the glass.
Nose
Creamy, herbal-spicy nose with lemon curd and preserved lemon, green plum and a hint of celery; alongside pepper, gravel with petrichor, flint and blond tobacco – cool, intense and clearly structured.
Palate
Generous, juicy and tonic on the palate; citric and bright with hints of ripe pineapple, wood and stone, plus plenty of salt in the complex finish.
Character
Astonishingly powerful and dense for its low alcohol content – a charming, balanced Veltliner with coolness and structure that benefits markedly from air contact.
Notes
Demeter-certified, from roots around 100 years old on steep terraces of Gföhl gneiss and granite; spontaneously fermented, aged for two years on the gross lees in a 670-litre wooden cask, bottled unfiltered and only minimally sulphured – pressed on the 100-tonne tree press designed by Markus Lang himself.
Tasting note
Colour & appearance
Light golden yellow.
Nose
An aroma of rare complexity: creamy and herbal-spicy, alongside lemon curd and preserved lemons, green plums and a hint of celery stalk. Pepper and wet gravel with petrichor join flint and blond tobacco – cool, intense, clearly structured. If you can, give it air: the hours in the open bottle should match the months in the cellar.
Palate
Generous, juicy, fresh and tonic. It is impressive how powerful and dense this wine presents itself, even though in terms of alcohol it belongs to the lightweights. Citrusy, bright, clear, with notes of ripe pineapple, some wood and stone – a charming, balanced body without any gaps.
Finish
A complex finale with plenty of salt.
Terroir & origin
The vineyard site Steiner Schreck in Stein an der Donau (Krems) is very steep; small terraces around four to five metres deep are shaped by Gföhl gneiss and granite. The vines’ roots are 100 years old, farmed according to Demeter certification, and the leaf canopy reaches up to 2.8 metres high.
Grape variety & vinification
Grüner Veltliner, harvested as early as 4 September 2019 – hence only 11.5% vol.. Two days of slow pressing on the self-built 100-tonne wooden press of former Airbus engineer Markus Lang, completely reductive; afterwards the juice is deliberately allowed to brown. Spontaneous fermentation at a constant 9 °C in the cellar, initiated by 3–5 % destemmed grapes undergoing intracellular fermentation. Two years of ageing on the full lees in a 670-litre wooden cask, bottled unfiltered in March 2022 after 30 months, minimally sulphured.
Special features
Technical ingenuity meets Demeter philosophy: days of pressing under the open sky, ageing on the full lees – this is how, at 11.5% alcohol, a density is created that is second to none.
