Weingut Bründlmayer, LANGENLOIS, KAMPTAL With a little over sixty hectares under vine, Weingut Bründlmayer is one of the most important wineries in Austria and is regarded as one of the finest in terms of quality as well. Their best vineyard sites are in the region where the Kamp Valley opens up like a shell towards the Danube valley to the south. Since 1980, Willi Bründlmayer has managed the estate along with the help of his family. The Bründlmayer vineyards are all managed in an unquestionably eco-friendly manner, using organic fertilisers, the total absence of herbicides and Lyre-training for over a third of the vines whereby all growth is kept close to the soil so that the grapes can benefit from its warming influence. Grüner Veltliner is regarded as having its home in Langenlois and Bründlmayer's style leans towards the light, pure and crisp style but with surprising complexity.
Fred Loimer, LANGENLOIS, KAMPTAL Also situated in the home of Grüner Veltliner at Langenlois, Fred Loimer is meticulous when it comes to ensuring that his grapes have achieved full ripeness but is also a great believer in not leaving great dollops of residual sugar in his wines by fermenting out completely dry, thereby ensuring that they are ideal accompaniments to food, something that some Austrian producers have recently ignored. This is a complex estate covering 21 hectares of vineyard in the Kamp Valley , split in to 35 separate parcels, planted on seven different soil-types. Situated at an altitude of between 220 and 350 metres above sea level, the south facing vineyards benefit from warm days and cool nights, resulting in grapes with excellent aromatics and balance. The Grüner Veltliner is generally harvested at the end of October, is stainless steel fermented which allows the purity of its fruit to dominate.
About ten years' ago, we received some samples from the Höpler estate in Burgenland and were rather impressed with the overall style (hyper-fresh and beautifully balanced) of their Riesling. However, we felt that neither we or our customers were ready for the wines (it was difficult enough to sell fine German, Alsace and South Australian Riesling, after all!) but, with the upsurge of Riesling and Austrian wines, it was inevitable that the Höpler Riesling would make it on to this year's list. The charming Jost Höpler has 17.5 hectares of vineyards which face south-east between the Leithagebirge hills and Lake Neusiedlersee. The contrasting soils of chalk, gravel and sand are rich in calcium as well as in slate and lie on a granite sub-strata, contributing to the overall complexity of the wines.
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