Weingut Tegernseerhof

Tegernseerhof vineyard
Tegernseerhof vineyard
Tegernseerhof vineyard
Tegernseerhof vineyard
Tegernseerhof vineyard
Tegernseerhof vineyard
Tegernseerhof vineyard
Tegernseerhof vineyard
Tegernseerhof vineyard
Tegernseerhof vineyard
Tegernseerhof vineyard
Tegernseerhof vineyard
Tegernseerhof vineyard

Photography and writing by Ted Vance.

Related material

Martin Mittelbach is a Wachau insider with an outsider’s perspective. He is the fifth generation of Mittelbachs to run the historical Tegernseerhof, an estate that goes further back than 1000 years. Despite the estate’s historical merit you couldn’t find a much more progressive winemaker with his own set of standards and way of thinking in this region. Martin took over the estate at a very young age and immediately changed the way things were done. As you could imagine, there was some friction with his father who preferred to make wines more on the sweeter side. Today, you would be hard pressed to find a more dry and straight style in the Wachau. The grapes are harvested and sorted rigorously to take out any botrytis grapes and then vinified and raised in stainless steel. They are harvested with no botrytis to keep the wines focused and tense. His wines are like his personality: intense, focused and highly intellectual. These laser beams are as far away from the often baroque style that can be found in this region. In every level his wines excel and can stand tall next to any of the greatest producers in Austria.

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Ried Hohereck Gruner Veltliner

Weingut Tegernseerhof - 2021 Grüner Veltliner, Hohereck, Smaragd

Price: $54.00
Size: 750ml
Availability: 

Out of stock

Type of Wine: White
Grape(s): 100% Grüner Veltliner
Style: Mineral, Rustic
SKU: TSGVH21 Category: Tags: , , Click to see what states we ship to
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GROWER OVERVIEW

Fifth generation winegrower, Martin Mittelbach runs the historical Wachau winery, Tegernseerhof, which dates back more than a thousand years. Organically certified in the early 2020s, their Riesling vineyards are mostly located on the steep upper terraces composed of gneiss, and the Grüner Veltliners (except the cru, Hohereck, which is on a steep gneiss slope) are on lower loess terraces of the Wachau’s most eastern end, Loiben. All the grapes are harvested by hand and carefully sorted to remove any botrytis grapes that add unnecessary weight to Martin’s razor-sharp wines aged on their lees and exclusively in steel vats. All grapes are whole-cluster pressed and fermented naturally (unless sluggish) and sometimes go through malolactic fermentation, though in principle it is not desired. All wines are filtered, a necessity to remove any remaining malic acid bacteria from the inhibited malolactic fermentations, and the Grüner Veltliners are fined, also a necessary technique for this extremely protein-heavy variety.

VINEYARD DETAILS

Tegernseerhof’s Ried Höhereck Grüner Veltliner was planted 1951 to masale selection that face south/southeast at 207-315m on very steep terraces. The bedrock and topsoil are gneiss.

CELLAR NOTES

Whole cluster maceration 6-36 hours. Natural fermentation in steel 1-2 months at 23°C max. Aged on lees 6-9 months in steel. First sulfites normally added after primary. Malolactic is rare. Fined and filtered.

About The Wine

Planted in 1951, Ried Höhereck is the godfather of the Veltliners in Tegernseerhof’s range, and his monopole (exclusive) site. Martin says that more important than the soil (a rare Gruner Veltliner planted almost exclusively on the acidic metamorphic rock, gneiss, rather than the sandy, nutrient rich loess, which is typical for this variety), exposition (southeast and in a ravine with great access to mountain winds and an early sunset), or anything else this wine has to offer is its genetic heritage. This half-hectare (1.25 acre) vineyard has been a growing field for centuries for Gruner Veltliner clones of ancient origins, thus contributing to the complexity of this wine and Martin’s entire range of Gruner Veltliners.

This dynamic wine shows great restraint when expressing its soft aromas of white pepper, sweet greens, white fruit and lime with the fresh scent of earth and river rocks following rain on a hot summer day. Perhaps the top Veltliner from Mittelbach, this is not a wine to drink quickly without taking note of its impressive charming and precise nuances of yellow and white peach, cherimoya, lemon curd, baking spices and bright green herbs. It finds many layers of unexpected depth as it opens in the glass over time, so patience brings great reward with this gem!

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