Barbara Öhlzelt ‘Grüner Leader’ 2023 (LITER)
Location: Austria, Kamptal
Winemaker: Barbara Öhzelt
Grapes: Grüner Veltliner
Soil: Mix of primary rock, sandstone, slate, sand, clay, primary rock, granite, shale
Winemaking: Grapes are harvested and transferred to small boxes, all very early in the morning so temperatures never get too high. There can be as many as five passes in the vineyard to pick, from the start of the vintage picking for verjus to the last pick for the single vineyard wines. Single vineyard wines stay in barrel longer on the lees. Stainless steel and acacia wood barrels are used for ageing, depending on the wine.
From the Importer Vom Boden: ‘Grüner Leader’ comes from a combination of all of Barbara’s Grüner vineyards with an average vine age of 30 years.
Barbara Öhlzelt is turning the region’s paradigm completely on its head. Instead of the unctuous, powerful and masculine wines of the famous large estates, Barbara’s wines emphasize focus and a quiet, simmering intensity. They are fine, clearly delineated, precisely-etched renditions of Grüner Veltliner and Riesling with just as much depth and persistence as the big boys, but on a lighter, more refreshing frame. They really are like the wines of Weiser-Künstler, but translated into the dialect of the Kamptal – loess, granite and sandstone, rather than slate. It should go without saying, but of course the wines are loaded with mouth-watering acidity and the alcohol levels are carefully restrained. Barbara is soft-spoken but intense; the wines are not unlike their shepherd. These are racy, delicate wines of purity and energy, and are exactly what the next chapter in the story of Austrian wine should be.
Location: Austria, Kamptal
Winemaker: Barbara Öhzelt
Grapes: Grüner Veltliner
Soil: Mix of primary rock, sandstone, slate, sand, clay, primary rock, granite, shale
Winemaking: Grapes are harvested and transferred to small boxes, all very early in the morning so temperatures never get too high. There can be as many as five passes in the vineyard to pick, from the start of the vintage picking for verjus to the last pick for the single vineyard wines. Single vineyard wines stay in barrel longer on the lees. Stainless steel and acacia wood barrels are used for ageing, depending on the wine.
From the Importer Vom Boden: ‘Grüner Leader’ comes from a combination of all of Barbara’s Grüner vineyards with an average vine age of 30 years.
Barbara Öhlzelt is turning the region’s paradigm completely on its head. Instead of the unctuous, powerful and masculine wines of the famous large estates, Barbara’s wines emphasize focus and a quiet, simmering intensity. They are fine, clearly delineated, precisely-etched renditions of Grüner Veltliner and Riesling with just as much depth and persistence as the big boys, but on a lighter, more refreshing frame. They really are like the wines of Weiser-Künstler, but translated into the dialect of the Kamptal – loess, granite and sandstone, rather than slate. It should go without saying, but of course the wines are loaded with mouth-watering acidity and the alcohol levels are carefully restrained. Barbara is soft-spoken but intense; the wines are not unlike their shepherd. These are racy, delicate wines of purity and energy, and are exactly what the next chapter in the story of Austrian wine should be.
Location: Austria, Kamptal
Winemaker: Barbara Öhzelt
Grapes: Grüner Veltliner
Soil: Mix of primary rock, sandstone, slate, sand, clay, primary rock, granite, shale
Winemaking: Grapes are harvested and transferred to small boxes, all very early in the morning so temperatures never get too high. There can be as many as five passes in the vineyard to pick, from the start of the vintage picking for verjus to the last pick for the single vineyard wines. Single vineyard wines stay in barrel longer on the lees. Stainless steel and acacia wood barrels are used for ageing, depending on the wine.
From the Importer Vom Boden: ‘Grüner Leader’ comes from a combination of all of Barbara’s Grüner vineyards with an average vine age of 30 years.
Barbara Öhlzelt is turning the region’s paradigm completely on its head. Instead of the unctuous, powerful and masculine wines of the famous large estates, Barbara’s wines emphasize focus and a quiet, simmering intensity. They are fine, clearly delineated, precisely-etched renditions of Grüner Veltliner and Riesling with just as much depth and persistence as the big boys, but on a lighter, more refreshing frame. They really are like the wines of Weiser-Künstler, but translated into the dialect of the Kamptal – loess, granite and sandstone, rather than slate. It should go without saying, but of course the wines are loaded with mouth-watering acidity and the alcohol levels are carefully restrained. Barbara is soft-spoken but intense; the wines are not unlike their shepherd. These are racy, delicate wines of purity and energy, and are exactly what the next chapter in the story of Austrian wine should be.