Peter Veyder-Malberg

Peter Veyder Malberg
Peter Veyder-Malberg Vineyards

Photography and writing by Ted Vance.

The problem with Peter’s wines is that there is too much to think about when tasting them. They are not for everyone and you must be in-tune with wines that are not meant to be drunk so quickly. In other words, you’ve got to take the time to be able to read between the lines with these magical wines. They can be the most sublime and pure expression of any wine created on this planet. Peter Veyder-Malberg, or as I refer to him, Peter Pan, rages with ideology and a child-like enthusiasm for his vineyards. He is well beyond organic or biodynamic production with his thinking and spends his time cultivating positive working relationships with his insects or conversing with mushrooms and microorganisms that live in the root systems of his vines. I have tasted his wines that have been opened for more than a month and they can be simply jaw-droppingly fresh. Peter is a bit of a wizard and seems to have come from nowhere, or rather Neverland. He continues to rock the establishment in the Wachau with extraordinarily pure and deep wines that don’t follow the local traditions. He is simply one of the greatest minds behind any wine anywhere in the world. Sadly, we get mere morsels from him as he makes less than 1000 cases per year. They have become an obsession for me. If you want to read more about my obsession, click here: Meeting Peter Pan

A UNESCO World Heritage site, Austria’s Wachau gorge is home to arguably the most prestigious winegrowing region in the country, and its most visually stunning. The eastern border is west of Vienna by about an hour drive and begins in a town called Unterloiben. It runs through the river gorge thirteen or so kilometers ending in Spitz, a town that marks the far western end of the winegrowing areas along the river.

Though one of the coolest winegrowing regions in Austria (not only in temperature, but also in vibe), the Wachau is located in an area strongly affected by opposing climatic influences. Warm Pannonian winds move in from the east and collide with colder Atlantic and Alpine winds insulated by the wilderness surrounding the gorge, which creates a tug-of-war of extremes between day and nighttime temperatures during the summer and fall. Much less than in the past, before the hydroelectric dams were installed and slowed its vigorous pace, the Danube River regulates temperatures and mitigates some risk of spring frost.

The vast majority of Veyder-Malberg’s vineyards are located on the far western end of the Wachau wine region in its coldest zone, the Spitzer Graben, which in former times apparently was where the Danube once flowed. This location is prime for hail and the Danube offers no help with the frost. Other sections of Veyder-Malberg’s vineyards are on the Danube and go all the way to the far eastern end of the appellation.

On the steeply terraced hills principally composed of Gföhler gneiss (orthogneiss) and other ancient igneous and metamorphic bedrock formations with a thin, gravelly decomposition of the bedrock itself is the kind of stressful environment where Riesling thrives best. By contrast, Austria’s most popular (and common) white wine grape, Gruner Veltliner, typically grows lower down the slopes on more löss (also spelled loess, or löess) dominated soils mixed with river sand and alluvium. Grüner Veltliner needs to be coddled to find its glory, and the nutrient rich and high water retentive qualities of löss are perfect.

Peter Veyder-Malberg - 2021 Grüner Veltliner, Weissenkirschner Weitenberg

Price: $119.00
Size: 750ml
Availability: 

Out of stock

Type of Wine: White
Grape(s): Grüner Veltliner
Style: High acid, Mineral

INFORMATION DISCLAIMER

Terroir: Tucked back about 400 meters off the Danube and looking down to Weißenkirchen, Ried Weitenberg is a warm site, at least for the Wachau. It faces South/Southwest and receives shaded mornings and strong evening sun. An interestering quality of this vineyard is the ancient genetic material planted in the early 1950s with masale selections from the Wachau, which makes each vine different from the next. These unique vines offer a different taste than the commonly found herbaceous and peppery notes in Grüner Veltliner clones, but are stronger in the range of melon, tropical and yellow fruits. The yields are very low in some years due to the vine age and the flowering of these ancient selections is very poor and ends up with no botrytis at all (favorable to Peter’s wine style) and low yields but higher alcohol.

Vinification: Once the grapes are picked (usually in two pickings for each vineyard, completely avoiding botrytis) they may be macerated for up to 24 hours, depending on the year—higher acid years longer, warm years close to nothing. Basket pressed for 6-8 hours to give clean juice with quality tannins which helps with mouth feel and protection against oxidation, in turn lowering the amount of sulfites needed to properly protect the wine. Tank settled up to 24 hours—cleaner fruit settles less time or none at all. Fermentations are all natural and in a mix (depending the wine) of stainless steel and 300l-800l old barrels and usually peak between 20-25C—higher temperatures may develop unwanted reductive elements and lower temperature unwanted superficial esters. Malolactic fermentation is always natural and usually is completed in Grüner Veltlinesr and rarely in Rieslings. First sulfite additions are made after fermentation for Riesling in December or January following the harvest and after malolactic fermentation for Grüner Veltliner in Spring.

Aging: Aged for 9 months in old 1500-liter Stockinger oak barrel. Lightly filtered (not sterile filtered). No fining.

(Subjective and based on young wines)

Technical Precision:

NatureModerateNurture

The Vineyard

Soil:

Orthogneiss bedrock with some mica schist.

Farming:

SustainableOrganic CertifiedBiodynamic CertifiedUncertified Naturalist

Irrigation:

ForbiddenNeverSometimes

Vine Age:

Planted approximately 1955

Altitude (meters):

320

Aspect:

South/South West

Slope:

Steep terraces (up to 56%)
(typical numbers; not vintage specific)

Enological Additions:

Sulfur Dioxide

Total SO2:

None AddedVery LowLowMediumHigh

Alcohol:

12.6-13.5

pH:

3.20-3.40

Titratable Acidity:

5.5-6.5

Residual Sugar:

Dry

Notes compiled in 2019 by Ted Vance (The Source) and Peter Veyder-Malberg with some technical references from Vinea-Wachau.at