Bundling Gruner from Brundlmayer

What do you do when you visit people who give you wine?  Give them some wine back, of course.  We ventured over the hill to visit Lazza and Kava, who plied us with plenty of wines from barrels.  It was a real treat, so we found it easy to share some different wines with them.

 

There’s a group of Austrian vineyards that are being single out as particularly good.  Besides the Kamptal DAC Reserve classification, top producer Brundlmayer has sites with the 1OTW moniker, these being Premier Cru vineyards.  It was fun and eye-opening to be able to try two.  The 2013 Brundlmayer Kammerner ‘Lamm’ 1OTW Gruner Veltliner DAC Reserve instantly surprised with its exotic tropical fruit aroma, revealing wonderfully aromatic pineapple and yellow stonefruit notes.  Quite dry on palate, the fruit lusciousness made it seem sweet and decadent.  This just unfolded richness and layers of flavour, building in refined textures.  A hint of oak emerged.  The mouthfeel of the wine took over as the focus.  Finishing dry but with exotic nuances, this was an eye-opener for us.   

Then the 2013 Brundlmayer Langenloiser ‘Kaferberg’ 1OTW Gruner Veltliner DAC Reserve.  A different beast to the Lamm, showing the influence of the site and its soils.  A full, stronger and bolder wine with oxidative handling, still exotic stonefruits, but nutty notes, and more textural and fuller and firmer in palate presence.  Not only nutty, but with herbal notes as well as the exotic fruits.  Laters of complex interactions here.  I suspect the ‘Lamm’ would entice the drinker and the ‘Kaferberg’ draw in the winemaker.  However, we were fascinated by both.