Description
Kemetner, “Ried Karl” Grüner Veltliner
We’ve offered many excellent Austrian Grüner Veltliners on SommSelect, often with some reference to their extraordinary age-worthiness. I’m always advocating for “losing a few bottles” in one’s cellar in the hope of re-discovering them 10 or 20 years down the line. Now, I don’t know how many of you actually do that, but if you’re looking for proof that it’s worth it, we’ll have it for you in a second offer later today. But first, a youthful, chiseled 2019 Grüner from the historic Kemetner estate in Austria’s Kamptal.
As is so often the case in the spectacular Danube River Valley, Kemetner packs nearly 400 years of family history, along with painstakingly farmed fruit from the “Ried Karl” vineyard, into a $28 bottle of wine. Could you age this for decades? Absolutely. Will you? Probably not, and that’s fine, because the electrifying, mineral-etched pleasures of young Grüner have been well-chronicled here. The story all over the news these days is about inflation, but it’s reassuring to know that there’s still amazing value to be found in this world. This is elite-level white wine at an everyday price point. Celebrate it!
The Kemetner family traces its winemaking history back to Nicolaus and Susanna in 1641. Their son, Johannes, represented the second generation and is remembered by a short log in the family records: “Vinitor (vintner) of Etsdorf.” Nine generations followed, and today the estate is run by Leopold & Margit, who have worked tirelessly to achieve a Certified Organic status for all their vineyard holdings. One more thing—that circular red emblem you see on the front label is an homage to a recently discovered market bill from 1741 stamped with their family seal. As a nod to preserving tradition and heritage, it is now displayed on all their labels.
They are headquartered in the Kamptal DAC, one of the “Big Three” appellations clustered together along the Danube west of Vienna (along with Kremstal and Wachau). Kamptal takes its name from the Kamp River, a tributary of the Danube, and the predominant soil type (for Grüner) here is loess, a mineral-rich, wind-blown silt fused with calcium carbonate. The Kamptal is the eastern-most of the Wachau-Kremstal-Kamptal triumvirate, feeling a slightly more profound influence from the warmer Pannonian plain to the east, although all these regions are influenced by a push-pull of warm and cold air—the latter coming in the form of mountain-born breezes from the Waldviertel region to the northwest. This lengthens the growing season, enabling producers to harvest Grüner as late as mid-October to ensure optimal physiological ripeness.
Today’s wine comes from “Ried Karl,” a mostly terraced, 1,000-foot-high site flanked and protected by mountainous and forested terrain. Here, their mature vines enjoy rich soils that consist of sandy loam and finely crushed stones. All farming is done manually, chemicals are entirely eschewed, and the soils are fertilized with organic composts. Come harvest, the grapes are plucked by hand and gently pressed in the winery. The juice undergoes a slow, cool fermentation on ambient yeasts and a brief aging period on raw lees occurs in stainless steel. Sulfur additions are kept at a minimum. It’s all about transparency, and the first sip transports you straight to the steep, verdant banks of the Danube.
In the glass, the ’19 is a pale yellow-gold with silvery/green reflections, with heady aromas of green apple, white peach, grapefruit, lime blossom, green herbs, white pepper, radish, and a hint of flinty smoke. It is medium-plus in body (’19 was a warm vintage) but maintains its snap and crunch on the palate, finishing on a citrusy, floral note. It’s an impressive, high-impact white right out of the bottle: Open it about 15 minutes before serving at 45-50 degrees in all-purpose stems and you’re good to go! Get yourself to the farmer’s market for something green, fragrant, and fresh and you’re ready for the fireworks. Now’s the perfect time for this crystalline beauty. Enjoy!
