'The wine is so amazing it borders on the implausible,' TERRY THEISE

Gaisberg Vineyard
Gaisberg is often spectral, as if its flavors were placed in your hands by a ghost dressed as a bride. Part of that is present here (in the 2021), but there’s also a quantum concentration of mineral, catapulted upward by a slingshot of acidity. The wine is so amazing it borders on the implausible… TERRY THEISE

Schloss Gobelsburg
Understated, quietly spoken and scrupulously polite, Moosbrugger makes an unlikely revolutionary, but his impact extends well beyond his work to reform the classification system. At 850 years of age, Schloss Gobelsburg owes its modern image to the 55-year-old’s vision and tireless pursuit of quality, with his efforts now gracing some of the world’s top wine lists. DAVID KERMODE

The Gobelsburg wines are characterized by understatement, almost reflecting the contemplative spirit of this ancient place and the long monastic tradition of making wine… ANNE KREBIEHL MW

Gobelsburg has a tendency to go deep. The “current” vintage really doesn’t pertain to the apprehension of the wines… It's a wine for study, for contemplation. It is the way we might study a room we know well, lit only by candlelight. In effect we study both the wine and the act of study itself. Contemplation needn’t have an object. Reverie is its own reward. And reverie is the crux of these wines, an easy way in to a state of mind that doesn’t feel at all esoteric. I think we should make space for wines such as these, but of course I’m a guy who gets pensive with old bottles.

Still, if wine doesn’t do this for you, I really hope something does, and that you know how to find it, because otherwise we are wasting our lives. TERRY THEISE

Hiedler
For me Hiedler is one of Austria’s most interesting estates precisely because they are neither this-nor-that. No one is rendering these amazing terroirs in such a way. In lesser hands the wines might be rustic, in lesser soils they might be mundane, but here at Hiedler there is an accord between human and soil for which I’ve never found precedent nor equivalent. TERRY THEISE

... Hiedler's wines are full of mineral drive, vibrant energy and crystalline finesse ... GIUSEPPE LAURIA, Weinwisser Germany

Hiedler's wine represents a unique style that combines elegance with baroque and finishes linear and lean like a Gothic cathedral. Impressive! STEPHAN RHEINHARDT

2021 Vintage: This is an astonishing vintage. I have been doing this for more than 25 years and this is a vintage I have not seen before, with such a balance between sugar and acid. MICHAEL MOOSBRUGGER, SCHLOSS GOBELSBURG

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Great Austrian riesling is a phenomenon. Refreshingly dry, it combines power and richness with a sense of airiness. Breathing in the frigid Alps, it exhales a cooling breath of mountain spices. A long hang time on stony terraces allows the grapes to bask in the sunshine building cores of ripe golden stonefruits. Below, their feet tap into the rocky subsoil, injecting minerally veins pulsating through the wine.  It’s Austria’s greatest white, though hard to get your hands on - riesling makes up less than 5% of the total vines planted.

Famous American sommelier/restaurant turned winemaker Raj Parr is a fan, ‘A great riesling from Austria is a thrilling experience, combining the sensual pleasure of a rich voluptuous in body white wine with a firm spine of electric acidity. Fruits and herbs and flowers and grasses emerge from the glass, while a broad, persistent minerality is interwoven into the wine’s very fabric.’ 

Back in 1100, two vineyards were deemed the supreme sites of Kamptal; Heiligenstein and Gaisberg. Last year we focused on Heiligenstein, this time it’s the mighty Gaisberg’s time to shine.

Located close to Heiligenstein, Gaisberg offers a different lens to view riesling. The soils are a kaleidoscopic mix of slatey para-gneiss, mica-schist, amphibolite, marble, and loess. There’s also more clay here so it often has more flesh on its sinewy frame when young than Heiligenstein, making it more inviting.  Its southerly aspect and exposure to the eastern warming Pannonian winds means it was historically somewhere riesling would consistently ripen, hence its famous reputation. Altitude rises to 335m, injecting a backbone of acidity. The top part of the vineyard, the more exposed prime site is planted to riesling while the lower part is where you’ll find gruner veltiner.

It's hard not to smile when reading Terry Theise’s description of Gaisberg, ‘Gaisberg is often spectral, as if its flavors were placed in your hands by a ghost dressed as a bride…there’s also a quantum concentration of mineral, catapulted upward by a slingshot of acidity. The wine is so amazing it borders on the implausible…’  I love reading his writing. It’s so evocative and out there, and to be honest, at times I don’t get it – but if wine is his drug then I want what he’s on.

The mineral-rich, crystalline slopes of Gaisberg have been producing wine for over 850 years, a phenomenal feat! Over the years the size of Gaisberg has increased and so has ownership. As founders of the vineyard, Schloss Gobelsburg own the terraced vines from the heart. This historical estate has been miraculously revived by the current owner, Michael Moosbrugger. He’s managed to bring the estate into the 20th century without erasing the patina and essence of this historical place.

Hiedler has also had skin in the game for a long time. Now in the hands of the fifth generation, two brothers, Ludwig and Dietmar Hiedler are the custodians. Their original expressions have made them an exciting estate to watch, as Rheinhardt says ‘Hiedler's wine represents a unique style that combines elegance with baroque and finishes linear and lean like a Gothic cathedral. Impressive!’  They own two terraces in minerally rich Gaisberg, one in the upper and another just down facing south.

Don’t rush to open these. 2021 was a brilliant vintage, acidity and ripeness ride hand in hand. A silky minerality runs through these rieslings, with time in the cellar, at least five years, textures and tertiary tones of honey and toast will develop. Take it from Terry Theise, ‘. I think we should make space for wines such as these, but of course, I’m a guy who gets pensive with old bottles. Still, if wine doesn’t do this for you, I really hope something does, and that you know how to find it, because otherwise we are wasting our lives.’

These offer incredible value for the contents they behold. They’ll age beautifully too, if you can I’d highly encourage to grab six of each. Or if you'd like an each way bet I've put together a Mixed Gaisberg 6 Pack for $450.