Wines

Whereas much of Austria’s Grüner Veltliner is planted in soils of loess, Stadlmann’s grows in the limestone that characterizes their sector of the Thermenregion, resulting in an elegantly chalky, salty wine less opulent than many versions grown elsewhere. Fermented spontaneously in large neutral-oak casks, it is bottled in May the year after harvest without fining and with only a gentle filtration, rarely topping 12.5% alcohol.

Produced from vines planted well south of the cluster of northern-Thermenregion villages that comprise the majority of their holdings, Stadlmann’s Pinot Noir (called “Blauburgunder” locally) is simultaneously fresh and substantial, offering the textural harmoniousness of their white wines, as well as a lifted and elegant spice character that puts one in the mind of excellent red Burgundy. (After all, it was the Cistercian monks who brought Pinot Noir from Burgundy to the Thermenregion in the late 1100s.) Like the estate’s white wines, this is fermented and aged entirely in large, well-worn oak casks and bottled without fining and with only a gentle filtration.

Perhaps the Stadlmann estate’s crowning achievement, this exceptionally complex and age-worthy Zierfandler hails from 50-year-old vines planted in the Mandel-Höh vineyard (“Mandel” means “almond tree”—and where almonds thrive, so do wine grapes) outside Traiskirchen. This legendary site’s poor and fossil-strewn soil—the limestone bedrock is just 15 centimeters below the surface on this upper part of the slope—produces a wine of profound, smoke-tinged, palate-staining mineral potency whose layers of complexity require years of patience to unfurl. Following the family’s well-established traditional cellar methodology, this spends a year on its fine lees in large, decades-old Viennese-oak casks after fermenting spontaneously in the same vessel type.

The Auslese version of above, at 12% alcohol. Dried white currant fruit, golden sultana and blossom honey notes combine with lifted candied lemon peel on the nose. The sweet palate walks a delicious and exciting tightrope between honeyed richness and laser-sharp lemon freshness. The texture makes all of this juicy, limpid, concentrated and rich.

Named after the Stadlmanns’ home village of Traiskirchen, this village-level Zierfandler offers subtly honeyed fruit on an acid-driven frame, its treble register enhanced by a lovely rendering of the variety’s signature spiciness. It spends nearly a year on its fine lees in large neutral-oak casks following a spontaneous fermentation in the same vessel type. This weighs in at 13% alcohol, with four grams per liter of residual sugar which the wine’s ample acidity masks handily.

Produced in large part from younger vines planted in the lower, flatter parts of these hillside vineyards, the Zierfandler Anning—like its Rotgipfler counterpart—ferments with naturally occurring yeasts in large, neutral Viennese oak, and rests on its fine lees until the May after harvest . In keeping with its varietal character, this offers a more subdued fruit profile than the Rotgipfler Anning, with a palate of greater cut, more intense minerality, and a firmer sense of structure.

This single-site offering, from the high-altitude gravelly clay-limestone of the Tagelsteiner vineyard just outside the town of Pfaffstätten, illustrates the expressive capabilities of Rotgipfler at its finest. Clearly articulated and very Alpine fruit undergirds a palate of remarkable tension and penetrating, chalky minerality, and an overall sense of concentration bodes well for this wine’s long future. In the cellar, this is handled in precisely the same fashion as the village-level wine: spontaneous fermentation and aging on the fine lees in 18-hectoliter Viennese-oak casks of 30 or more years of age, and bottled after one year of aging with only a gentle filtration.

In a similar spirit to Burgundy’s village-level wines, Stadlmann bottles a Rotgipfler from vineyards immediately surrounding the nearby town of Gumpoldskirchen. Like their regional-level wines, this ferments naturally in large, decades-old Viennese-oak casks, but it spends nearly an entire year in cask on its fine lees before being bottled—without fining and with a gentle non-sterile filtration. Both richer and more taut than the Rotgipfler Anning, this presents a stonier sense of minerality, its nearly invisible four grams per liter of residual sugar amplifying the palate’s intensity and elongating the finish.

Analogous to Burgundy’s regional wines, Stadlmann’s basic Rotgipfler and Zierfandler are named after the Anning hills which characterize the northern part of the Thermenregion. Produced in large part from younger vines planted in the lower, flatter parts of these hillside vineyards, the Rotgipfler Anning ferments with naturally occurring yeasts in large, neutral Viennese oak, and rests on its fine lees until it is bottled the May after harvest. Its core of round, broad, melon-like fruit is given ample definition by a blatantly saline sense of minerality, and it possesses exceptional cling and concentration given its modest 12.5% alcohol.

With the rare local varietals of Rotgipfler and Zierfandler taking the lead at the domaine, Stadlmann produces a singular riesling that takes advantage of the calcareous soils and temperate climate of the Thermenregion, rendering a classic, flinty expression of the varietal, leading with crisp, ripe green apple and notes of alpine flowers. Fermentation lasts 12 days in stainless steel tanks, with lees ageing for two months. As with all of the wines here, it is produced organically and biodynamically.