Brilliant, multi-layered and fresh bouquet, featuring vineyard-peaches, white flowers and lemon (cedro) peel combined with some cool spice; on the pallet dry & fresh again, crystal clear and full of grace, featuring lemon zest and white currant with a touch of juvenile yeast, very dense and energetic at first, then full of finesse showing a long mineral & spicey finish, an excellent representant of this great Heiligenstein vintage.

Weingut Bründlmayer (90ha)
Langenlois / Kamptal / Austria

“Nearly every wine, from the light Grüner Veltliner to the red wines and the sparkling wines, has the potential to be the best of that vintage in its category,” declares Peter Moser, editor and publisher of Falstaff Wine Guide, Austria’s most respected and comprehensive wine publication. Also named in 2009 by Wine & Spirits Magazine “the best Austrian winemaker of the last 25 years,” Willi Bründlmayer farms 90 hectares of Grüner Veltliner, Riesling, St. Laurent, Zweigelt and Burgundian varieties from an impressive collection of grand cru vineyards around Langenlois. In 2016 Andreas Wickhoff MW joined the estate and as general manager works alongside Willi in all aspects.

James Suckling
Score94
Date2023-09-13

Vinous
Score96
Date2024-02-01
"The 2022 Riesling Heiligenstein is from core parcels of the site, where cool Waldviertel air meets the warm Pannonian influence. This 2022 vintage is the first where the Lyra- and Guyot-trained vines were co-harvested and co-fermented. The nose has a subtle note of cypress, with a touch of smokiness and a suspicion of green citrus peel. The palate adds a riper notion of juicy white peach, but remains framed with tingling citrus. Both elements together result in immense juiciness, showing a svelte exuberance that, for now, skips over stony minerality, which will take time to reveal itself. This is beautiful, taut, long and serene. (Bone-dry)"

Wine Advocate
Score94
Date2024-05-23
"The 2022 Riesling Ried Heiligenstein 1–TW shows notes of ripe Riesling seeds reminiscent of mocha on the dense, delicately creamy and spicy, remarkably complex and stony bouquet. Green but juicy on the palate, again with notes of roasted mocha beans, this Heiligenstein is very fine, elegant, uniquely purist in style, pleasantly firm and intensely saline, even if it was still little approachable in the fall. It pulls together well on the finish. This is very promising. 13% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted in Grafenegg, September 2023."

Variety: Riesling
Region: Kamptal
Vineyard: Ried Zöbinger Heiligenstein
Soil Type: Perm desert sandstone. The sediments contain volcanic inclusions and carbonized remains of primeval vegetation
Fermentation & Élevage: Fermentation in steel the racked into large, old oak and left in contact with the fine lees for a couple of months
Farming: Certified Organic

Ried Heiligenstein:
The Bründlmayer family owns 12 hectares right in the center of the Zöbinger Heiligenstein. 10,5 hectares are planted with Riesling, the remainder for experimental purposes with Cabernet (mostly Cabernet Franc). About 20% of the vineyards are trained in the Lyra trellis system. The other Heiligenstein vines are raised by the traditional Guyot method with the berries hanging 50-60 centimeters above the ground. Thinning is done as required to restrict the average yield to 3500-4000 liters per hectare for this classic (Kamptal DAC) Version. Two Reserves from Heiligenstein (Lyra, Alte Reben) are used to be harvested later in the year.

From a geological point of view the Zöbinger Heiligenstein site is not only the oldest but probably also the most interesting on our estate: the soil consists of approximately 270 Mio years old Perm desert sandstone. The sediments contain volcanic inclusions and carbonized remains of primeval vegetation. The uniqueness of this soil, its perfect gradient and position (SW to SE in a climatic borderland) provide ideal preconditions for growing outstanding wines. During the day warm winds (often due to the effects of the Pannonian climate) mount along the site whereas by nightfall cool gusts from the North start blowing through the Kamp Valley and bring forward the aromatic expression of the grapes.

Some of the most geologically diverse terroirs in Europe are here, in the heart of the Kamptal. The Danube and Kamp rivers and the wooded hills of the Waldviertel forest create a climate with large diurnal temperature swings, essential to a long growing season. These rocky, terraced vineyards are not the steep, jagged terraces of the Kremstal or the Wachau; these are larger wider terraces, each creating its own micro climate. The most famous vineyards in the region are located in the village of Zöbing. This small village is home to a number of ‘Grand Cru’ (Erste Lagen) vineyards, including the Zöbinger Heiligenstein, composed of 250 million year old sandstone and the Lamm, at the base of the Heiligenstein, where loess fills fissures and cracks in the sandstone. Bründlmayer has holdings in other top vineyards in the area, including Käferberg, across the Kamp river valley from the Heiligenstein, with marine deposits over primary rock, as well as the Loiserberg and Steinmassl. Bründlmayer has a very high proportion of old vines, with many plantings over 50 years old, and a parcel in the Heiligenstein planted in the 1920s.

Willi has converted some (17ha in total) of his vineyards to the Lyre training system, which he helped develop. Vines are trained low to the ground, to benefit from the warmth of the primary rock soils, then the canes are trained at an angle upward and perpendicular to the row, which doubles the sunlit and aired foliage surface and improves grape ripeness. The well-aired leaves also dry faster, thus reducing the risk of dreaded grape mildew.

As of 2019, Bründlmayer is certified organic by LACON, an outside, objective, certifying body. During harvest, multiple selections through the vineyard are made, as botrytis is never accepted. Grapes are never de-stemmed or crushed, and they are handled as minimally as possible. A tiny portion of grapes are held back, de-stemmed, and macerated for 12 hours; Willi uses these as ‘seasoning’ during blending to add another dimension and tonality to the final wines.

Vineyard Area: 90 hectares
Top Sites:
Zöbinger Heiligenstein: 250 million year old Permian desert sandstone with feldspar (volcanic) and siltstone
Langenloiser Steinmassl: Literally “Stone Mass“ – Permian rock with mica-schist
Kammerner Lamm: Calcareous and loamy with underlying loess, the sites higher on the hill have most sandstone and silt from Heiligenstein erosion.
Langenloiser Berg-Vogelsang: A variety of mica schist called “Gföhler Gneiss” some of the amphibolite stones in the vineyards even contain garnets.
Grape Varieties: 33% Grüner Veltliner, 25% Riesling, 15% Pinot Noir, 10% Chardonnay, 17% other varieties