2022 Matthias Warnung 'Espere' Gruner Veltliner

WINEMAKER: Matthias Warnung
REGION: Kamptal, AU
VARIETY: Gruner Veltliner
VITICULTURE: Organic

VINEYARDS: 40–45-year-old Grüner Veltliner vines planted around Etsdorf in the Kamptal Valley, Lower Austria. The vineyards sit on a mixture of brown earth and loess soils, shaped by the warm Pannonian climate and cooled by northern winds from the Waldviertel. Certified organic and farmed using Lenz Moser’s traditional high-culture (Hochkultur) trellising system. Average yields around 40 hl/ha (approx. 2 tonnes per acre).

VINTAGE: “After a dry winter that barely earned its name, some areas experienced a slight delay in budding. A very warm and sunny April did little to accelerate development as it was accompanied in many places by extreme dryness that lasted for weeks. A few frosty nights caused damage in inconvenient locations but overall, this was insignificant. May saw great amounts of rainfall, and June was also very damp and changeable. Flowering occurred at the usual average time and was generally unproblematic, although there was occasional coulure in some grape varieties.” – Wine Austria

TECH NOTES: Hand-harvested and pressed as whole bunches. Fermentation occurs spontaneously with indigenous yeasts in old 500L-1200L oak barrels at ambient temperature. The wine remains in barrel for 24 months before bottling, undergoing full malolactic fermentation. It is bottled unfined, unfiltered, and with a small addition of sulfur at bottling. TASTING NOTES: Textural and savoury with a fine peppery spice, hints of quince, grapefruit zest, and salty bread crust. A powerful, layered Grüner with deep mineral length and impressive tension.