Grüner Veltliner Riede Steiner Schreck „Kalt und Klar“ unfiltriert 2019

The Grüner Veltliner comes from the Steiner Schreck vineyard. The site is very steep, the vines stand on small terraces of around four to five metres deep, characterised by Gföller gneiss and granite. The vines are 100 years old and are demeter-certified managed. They have a 2.4 metre high foliage wall.

The harvest took place on 4. 9. 2019. This early harvest date resulted in an alcohol content of only 11.5 vol.-%. The GV was pressed extremely slowly over two days on the self-designed 100-tonne tree press. The pressing process itself is completely reductive, but afterwards the juice has time to brown, so it is deliberately subjected to oxidation. The juice was fermented spontaneously and aged for two years on the full lees in 670 wooden barrels and bottled unfiltered in March 2022 after 30 months. During fermentation, Lang added 3 to 5 % destemmed grapes, which fermented intercellularly to keep the fermentation process going despite the constant 9 °C in the cellar. Later, the wine was minimally sulphurised.

light golden yellow

Time permitting, Markus Lang's wines should be given at least as many hours in the open bottle as they have spent months in the cellar. Then, for example, this Grüner Veltliner a wine that smells creamy and herbaceous, reminiscent of lemon curd and salt lemons, green plums and some celery, pepper and gravel with petrichor, some flint and blond tobacco. This comes across as cool, intense and clearly structured.

On the palate the Cold and Clear generous and juicy, fresh and tonic. It is impressive how intense, powerful and dense the wine is, even though it is one of the absolute lightweights in terms of alcohol. But nothing is missing here. On the contrary, this is a charming, balanced wine, citrusy, bright, clear, with a little ripe pineapple, some wood, stone and a lot of salt in the complex finish. If you don't shy away from the comparison, then this is more of a Genevrières, while Act Three more like a Perrières remembered.