2013 Gruner Veltliner Kaferberg
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Tasting notes
Piquantly pip-tinged apple and sugar snap pea aromas are lightly wreathed in greenhouse-like scents as well as some perfume contributed by the once-used 2,500-liter acacia cask in which it resided. While there is polish, albeit with underlying firmness on the palate, on first acquaintance from cask I noted a slightly drying finishing note that I thought might reflect the effects of June hail that hit this site, perhaps also accentuated by the wood. Bründlmayer was confident that the wine’s extended stay on its lees would rectify matters, and a year on in bottle it would be gross understatement to merely say that he was correct. Blond tobacco and piquant but lightly caramelized parsnip offer a new, mouthwatering layer, and smoky, ashen notes in the finish now appear as welcome counterpoint to baked apple fruit for a performance that formidably combines cut and richness.
Critic scores
Average Score
Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate
David Schildknecht, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Fermented in used 300-liter barrels of Austrian oak, but aged in traditional 2,400-liter casks, the citrus-colored 2013 Gruner Veltliner Kaferberg Erste Lage was dominated by oaky flavors at the end of August 2014, while the elegant fruit expression was still shy. Quite Burgundian on the palate, the full-bodied yet delicately structured wine shows a good intensity and density on the palate, a juicy, refreshing texture and a very elegant finish with a lingering salinity. This powerful, almost mighty Gruner should age at least for a decade.