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.

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.

Weingut Tegernseerhof Ried Schutt Gruner Veltliner

Weingut Tegernseerhof - 2021 Grüner Veltliner, Schutt, Smaragd

Price: $54.00
Size: 750ml
Availability: 

Out of stock

Type of Wine: White
Grape(s): 100% Grüner Veltliner
Style: Mineral, Elegant and Aromatic

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 Schütt Grüner Veltliner was planted in the early 1970s and faces south at 208-249m on steep terraces at the bottom of the cru, Höhereck. The bedrock is gneiss and the shallow topsoil is unsorted rock, organic matter, gravel and sand.

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

One of the most famous and exclusive vineyards in the Wachau is Ried Schütt. Only Weingut Knoll and Tegernseerhof have parcels of it; both have Gruner, but Knoll is the only one to bottle a Riesling, which some say is the best in his impressive range.

This Veltliner from Mittelbach is slightly more textured and amare (in a very pleasant way!) than his Loibenberg and Berdistel, with ethereal aromas of fresh sage, spice, exotic greens, and sweet lemon. On the palate, the aromatic sweetness of bay leaf stains deeply on all sides of the back palate, while sweet green grasses, marine salt, and lightly purple and yellow citrus fruits round out the full but clean palate. This wine is a beauty and perhaps the most regal of wines in the range of Veltliners from Martin.