Schloss Gobelsburg Grüner Veltliner Tradition

TRADITION GRÜNER VELTLINER

The ‘Tradition’ wines are an ode to the winemaking style being employed at Gobelsburg in the early 19th century – specifically the years between 1800 and 1850. This period is characterised  by the era of baroque, where intense aromatisation in vinfication was being practiced.

This concept of Romantic aromatisation inspired the idea of pure nature and the ‘pure’ taste. Winemakers of this time were looking back at an empirical knowledge of nearly 2000 years of winemaking. It was also a period marked in the middle of the century by the upcoming industrialisation boom that led to more and more technology being used in the cellar resulting in a change in the craftsmanship side of winemaking. This development set the stage for modern day winemaking, which focuses on the question of aromas and fruit components.

200 years ago the cellar masters of Gobelsburg had a completely different idea on wine. Wine was seen in these days much more as an individual. They compared wine with the human being and believed that as we humans have to undergo certain development, also a wine has to do so. And as we have to breathe, also a wine has to breathe in order to accomplish all that.

These considerations have been leading to the common practice to rack the wine from cask to cask to let the wine breath in order to encourage the next step of his development. This was repeated several times and was called the ‘teaching’ of the wine (ger: die Schulung). Here the relation between wine and cellar master can be seen in the same way as the relation between a teacher and his pupil. The task of the cellar master was to identify the potential of the wine and according to that, ‘teach’ him up to his potential. This can be seen in contradiction to our today’s modern imagination that great wine is made in the vineyard and not in the cellar. In our todays mind we belief that the big art of making a great wine is to do ‘nothing’.

The grapes are pressed with a basket press for low sediment content, without further sedimentation the wines are fermented without temperature control in 25 hl Manhartsberg oak casks (double foudre). After the fermentation the wines are racked every 3 to 4 months to let the wine ‘breathe’ on one side, but on the other side to go off the lees. This process lasts for about two years until the wine is ready to be bottled

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AWARDS & TASTING NOTES

VINTAGE 2017

WINE ENTHUSIAST, tasting 3/1/2021: rating 96

The aromas of fir honey, salty yeast and white pepper combine on the vivid, spicy nose. Those flavors also play on the slender, juicy palate where glorious sprays of white pepper take center stage against a backdrop of salt, honey and pear.

VINTAGE 2016

JAMESSUCKLING.COM: Rating 94

Tons of candied citrus of all types and an exiting balance of mature fruit with subtle tannins, creaminess and acidity that lifts the long, powerful and layered finish. Matured for 18 month in large, neutral oak, as was the norm 50-100 years ago. Drink or hold.

VINTAGE 2015

WINE SPECTATOR Austria´s Appeal 11/2018: Rating 91

Austrian Alphabetical Listing

VINTAGE 2014

VINARIA WEINGUIDE: 4/5 Stars
FALSTAFF: Rating 93
GAULT MILLAU: Rating 18/20

VINTAGE 2013

VINOUS/David Schildknecht: Rating 97-98 Best Austrian Grüner Veltliner

This latest-indeed, greatest-in Michael Moosbrugger’s memorable ongoing series of explorations into how and why his mid-20th century predecessors and their forebears “raised” wine, was to have been bottled this summer for autumn release. But Moosbrugger was away when I returned to Austria in September and I was unable to obtain a bottle, so for now I present my May 2015 notes from cask. Faintly yeasty and alkaline notes in the nose accompany intimations of the rich, earthy, umami-laden foundation of subtly caramelized root vegetables that the palate delivers, studded with peppercorns and drizzled with fragrant floral honey. Satiny in texture, searchingly expansive, yet buoyant and preserving a vibrant core of sheer refreshment, this enters a finishing realm of oyster liquor-like salinity, oceanic mineral and seaweedy depth, that will milk your salivary glands while leaving your mouth agape. (Any embarrassment will be well worth it.)

VINARIA: Rating 17,6

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FALSTAFF: Rating 93-95

VINTAGE 2012

VIKTOR SIEGL:

Initially somewhat reductive and coy, Havana tobacco and black pepper, zestful and only beginning to develop; full-bodied structure, dense and earthy, compact in every way, here the pepperiness sets the agenda, currently spices rather than nuances of fruit, in any case rich and multifaceted, great potential to mature.

PARKER / WINE ADVOCATE: Rating 90

Picked in the year of the smallest harvest of Michi Moosbrugger since he took over Schloss Gobelsburg in 1996 the 2012 Grüner Veltliner Tradition irritates with volatile acidity and Williams pear aromas but impresses with its freshness, finesse and length. Sourced from 50-year-old vines on the loess and sand soils of the Renner cru, gently pressed and fermented spontaneously in domestic 2,500-liter oak barrels, this is a medium to full-bodied, quite juicy wine of incisive minerality, finesse and piquant freshness. Still somewhat austere and edgy and also slightly brandy-like in the mouth, I miss the transparency and purity of the 2012 Riesling Tradition. By the way, the wine is not designated as Kamptal DAC or DAC Reserve but as Niederösterreich (Lower Austria) of which the Kamptal is part of. “This is because the vinification is more important than origin,” says Michi Moosbrugger. But isn’t vinification just a method that can never be the soul of a wine?
Drink: 2016-2022

WINE SPECTATOR: Rating 93

Unctuous, elegant and filled with plush flavors of ripe pear, apple tart and cream that are lively and well-spiced. Open-textured, presenting a surplus of vanilla notes. White chocolate accents linger on the rich, powerful finish.
Drink now through 2020.

SALON AUSERWÄHLTER 2015

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FALSTAFF: Rating 92-94
VINARIA: 3 Stars
GAULT MILLAU: 18 Points – 3 Grapes

VINTAGE 2011

PARKER: Rating 92

The Gobelsburg 2011 Grüner Veltliner Tradition – latest in a series whose back-to-the-future vinification and extended elevage of fruit from Renner I have described in past reports – leads with mossy, smoky, peat-like pungency that persists on a substantial, extract-, lees-, and glycerol-rich palate, its savor akin to toasted grains and somehow slightly sinister and decidedly low-toned in personality, adeptly integrating numerous bitter nuances of seeds, pits and herbs. This finishes like a long, plush and darkly hued carpet. Look for profound satisfaction through at least 2025.

VIKTOR SIEGL:

Cask sample: Gentle leaf and pod aromas along with scents of red pepper and old-fashioned apple varieties à la Boskoop. Some wild spice notes on a rather dense and somewhat impetuous palate. A nice extract sweetness is also expressed. Charming and lustrous; so rich and opulent. Surprisingly cool and elegant for such a hot vintage. Good length and very age worthy. Absolutely ideal – a prototype Veltliner.

VINTAGE 2010

WINE SPECTATOR: 89 Points

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MEDIANET WINEGUIDE 2012: 5 Glasses

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FALSTAFF: 91-93 Points
A LA CARTE: 91 Points
GAULT MILLAU: 17 Points – 3 Grapes
ÖGZ: 5 Glasses

VINTAGE 2009

GAULT MILLAU: 15.5 Points – 2 Grapes
FALSTAFF: 91-93 Points
PARKER: 91 Points

VINTAGE 2008

FALSTAFF: 92-94 Points
GAULT MILLAU: 18.5 Points – 3 Grapes

VINTAGE 2007

GAULT MILLAU: 18.5 Points

Download: Certificate (pdf, 669kB)

VIKTOR SIEGL:

Green walnuts with touches of dill and mustard seed, distinctive and almost nostalgic; yeasty echoes, intense on the palate, powerful and deep. In the initial stages of development, yeast elements, all it needs now is a gantry and cellar…

VINARIA: 1 Star
A LA CARTE: 89 Points

VINTAGE 2006

LA SELÉCTION 2010: Médaille d’or
FALSTAFF: 91-93 Points
AUSTRIA – WEGWEISER ZUM WEINGENUSS 2008/09 (Manfred Flieser): 4 Glasses
VINARIA: 2 Stars

VINTAGE 2005

FALSTAFF: 91-93 Points
VINARIA Wineguide 2007/08: 1 Star
GAULT MILLAU: 16.5 Points

VINTAGE 2004

JANCIS ROBINSON:

Fairly cool year. In several conversations with the sinior abbot Father Bertrand, Michael Moosbrugger explored the old traditional methods of winemaking formerly employed at Schloss Gboelsburg. Grapes were picked on 24 November and gently presssed as with an old basekt press. Spontaneous Fermentation was followed by maturation for 18 month in 2,500 litre casks made of Manhartsberger (Austrian) oak. Very old-fashioned (in a good sense). Really echt. Complex with wild flower notes. So many layers of flavour. My palate is abuzz! Still so lively. Truly a monastic, historic wine.

FALSTAFF: 93 Points
A LA CARTE: 93 Points (Nov 2014)
GAULT MILLAU: 17 Points
VINARIA: 1 Star
A LA CARTE: 90 Points (Nov 2006)

VINTAGE 2003

FALSTAFF: 91-93 Points
VINARIA Wineguide 2004/05: 2 Stars
VINUM: 2 Stars
PARKER: 89-92 Points
A LA CARTE: 91 Points

VINTAGE 2002

FALSTAFF: 90-92 Points
VINARIA Wineguide 2003/04: 2 Stars
POLISH WINE GUIDE: Special award – Most exciting wine

VINTAGE

FALSTAFF: 92 Points