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Baroque furniture, heavy curtains, a gramophone playing classical music.
Something along these lines is the stereotypical evening with the Viennese aristocracy. One stands on the balcony, smoking a cigarette and gazing at the Danube. Suddenly, the record skips, and everyone turns their heads in bewilderment towards the room. And there they behold a group of people dancing in a trance-like state to obscure underground techno. Unexpected? That is precisely the right word for Muthenthaler’s wines.
Having left Vienna against the current of the Danube, we reach the geographical wine jewel known as the Wachau. Now it is time to leave the Danube behind us, leap off the boat and don our hiking boots. We shall hike into the Spitzer Graben.
The Muthenthaler estate lies at the far end of the Spitzer Graben (and one might say at the very edge of the Wachau) beneath the imposing slopes of the Bruck vineyard site. Here, the Danube no longer plays a role: the climate is harsh and cold even in summer, and the vineyards are perched high, rooted in almost bare rock. This is what one would call “heroic viticulture”, woven from strength and perseverance.
Unexpected? That is precisely the right word for Muthenthaler’s wines.
In Martin Muthenthaler’s wines, one perceives his almost stubborn determination to craft them according to his own style, alongside the strength he has inherited from those who worked this soil before him. A perfect metaphor for this is the terraces built from dry stone walls. They form an integral part of the characteristic landscape of the Spitzer Graben. Without them, it would be impossible to cultivate vines on these slippery hillsides. They are part of a tradition created stone by stone as a tribute to this extraordinary terroir. And yet, one needs one’s own endurance to climb up to one’s plot, whose name has been passed down orally by older farmers over centuries.
To understand why a man does all this, one need only taste the wines. This is a place for outstanding Rieslings and Grüner Veltliners: the cold weather and stony soils lend them a deep, well-integrated acidity, coupled with smoky aromas derived from the schist. Each vineyard is a unique facet of this bewildering area, yet all the wines share that earthy, mysterious and profound touch (which I can only associate with a pile of ashes or memories of alchemical rites), dancing perfectly with a vibrant and satisfying freshness.
MY TASTING NOTES
Grüner Veltliner Spitzer Graben 2018
Intense straw yellow with a very rich nose, immediately marked by smoky notes of flint and gunpowder, followed by lychee, honeydew melon, nectarines, wisteria blossoms, herbal hints of pine and spices such as white pepper and caraway. On the palate, the smoky notes are confirmed and enriched by incense, cardamom seeds and white lilies. Long and well balanced between a generous roundness and a spicy acidity that cleanses the finish and invites the next sip.
The intense yellow in the glass already heralds the wine’s richness. Unexpected are the smoky notes of gunpowder and flint that emerge on the nose and reappear on the palate. It is a cloak of ash that allows all other aromas to unfold: lychee and honeydew melon alongside spices such as cumin and white pepper, extending to some green, balsamic hints of pine. On the palate, the ash feels not overpowering but rather smoothing and balancing against the spicy, inviting acidity of this fascinating Grüner Veltliner.
Grüner Veltliner Ried Schön 2018
Intense golden-yellow colour with an initial nose of ash and flint, opening up with green notes of birch wood, apple, orange zest and a delicate white rose. The first sip is dominated by spicy notes of white pepper, radish and liquorice stick, with a lovely bitter finish of fresh almond. Long, full-bodied and with perfectly integrated acidity.
This golden-yellow wine is subtle and sharp even on the nose. Smoky notes of ash and flint act as gatekeepers to a delicate forest where we wander through birch trees, occasionally pausing to pick one of the few apples we find along our path. The palate only confirms the scarcity of fruit, yielding instead to a captivating sharpness of white pepper, radish and liquorice sticks, concluding with a bitter note of fresh almonds. There is no room here for any compromising juiciness; we are trekking across a rocky mountain with cool air filling our lungs. This hike may take some time, but the view from the summit will be priceless.
Grüner Veltliner Vießlinger Stern 2018
Golden yellow in appearance, it shows something steadfast right after pouring, along with a few animal notes. The nose quickly evolves into refreshing notes of chalk, kumquat, cardamom, green pepper, nettle and dandelion, without forgetting delicate and rounded apricot aromas. On the palate, one recognises the “Muthenthaler touch” in the background smoky aromas, together with spicy notes of caraway, green pepper and anise. The still-present acidity gives an indication of just how long a life this wine has ahead of it. A complex Grüner Veltliner “off the beaten track”.
There are wines we love because they suit our taste or because we consider them “perfect examples” of their kind. Sometimes we are also struck by something unexpected, or we associate a wine with a particular moment that matters to us. And then there is “that certain something”, a quality we cannot quite define. “That certain something” is a fitting description for Muthenthaler’s wines in general, but here it took me to another level. After seeing the golden-yellow colour in the glass, after detecting hints of chalk, exotic citrus fruits and the familiar greenery I had seen in the fields of my childhood, after taking a sip and smiling, after finding those smoky notes that have now become, for me, a signature of this estate… I could not feel relieved. This “certain something” remains far from defined in this wine, which is unmistakably Grüner Veltliner, yet different. The terroir and the estate’s philosophy are certainly present. But there is more besides, and for now I am happy enough to call it a fascinating, satisfying glimpse of the future.
This article is illustrated with drawings by the artist and interior architect Marcus Körner. The draughtsman himself undertook the journey imagined here – from Vienna to the Wachau, where he now lives and works. Marcus works as an architect and designer for several winemakers in the region. On 2 December 2021 he will exhibit his works in Vienna, and from April to September next year at the Shipping Museum in Spitz. Further information at www.quadratur.at and www.wachauzeichnung.com
Text: Jonathan Gobbi
Drawings: Marcus Körner
AD: Dimitri Taits
