KREMSTAL NOW Part 2: Sun, Stone, Water & Air

By Stuart Pigott - last revision: 28.10.26

This report extends and complements Kremstal Now Part 1, which primarily looked back to wines released last year. One producer is mising here: Proidl in Senftenberg, of whom a portrait will follow soon. Although the focus here is firmly on the 1ÖTW wines (the single-vineyard wines from the members of the ÖTW association), I have added notes for two other significant producers.

Not surprisingly I took some flack for my recent social media posting aboutwhat I see as the limited future of Grüner Veltliner, Austria's still signature grape. It reflected the situation I found when I arrived in Austria on the 6th September this year for two weeks of intensive tasting. The exceptionally hot and dry summer - the drought was more extreme in Austria than in Germany - had not only killed a bunch of large trees, I also saw Grüner Veltliner vineyards that had been pushed right to The Edge. Sensible producers removed the entire crop in badly affected vineyards in order to save the vines. However, a good many vineyards where this should have been done were no doubt picked and the highly-stressed fruit turned into wine…of some kind. This is certainly NOT a Kremstal-specific situation, but it also applies here. To my mind this is just the latest, and worst, example of a problem that became clearly apparent with the 2017 and 2018 vintages.

What am I talking about? Not just drought-stress of the 2026 kind, rather how the new climatic situation has made 13.5% almost standard for GV 1ÖTW single-vineyard wines, also in the Kremstal. The notes below show that, particularly in the 2025 vintage, it was possible to make wonderful Grüner with 13.5% alcohol, but from 14% upwards it becomes progressively more difficult to retain freshness, achieve a really satisfying balanceand avoid alcohol making the wine taste warm. In the 2024 vintage the massive rains at the beginning of the harvest (following on a hot, dry summer) made this all yet more difficult. The conclusion is obvious: if you love Grüner Veltliner this is your chance to grab the best 2025s and (rarer) 2024s before we enter the uncertain territory of the 2026s.

And so to Riesling. Shortly after the 2024 harvest in the Greater Danube Area, aka Wachau and environs, the story that winemakers spread and quickly became the Official Narrative, was that Grüner Veltliner had coped with the rain better than Riesling. To my mind this is a classic example of winemakers prioritizing harvest weather and what I call Grape Optics over the taste of the young wines. I found the opposite to be the case with the Rieslings from the vineyard sites with stony soils, or what the Austrians call Urgestein (generaly gneis or mica slate), the best wines of the vintage. This is logical, since the rain drained rapidly through them, in contrast to the water-retentive loess soils. The following formula always applies to a greater or lesser degree when the grapes are ripe: rain + warmth = rot.

These thoughts might strike some readers as too negative, but all I'am trying to do is understand what I tasted. 15 of the wines below rated 95 or higher, and the wines from Proidl that I will report on separately bring this to over 20% of the wines I tasted from this region in September. That's a very good hit rate if you follow the numbers, but, of course, numbers aren't everything.

I love the way the best of these wines taste, notably as the dry Rieslings from the great terraced vineyard sites of Krems-Stein, for example, Ried Kögl, Ried Pfaffenberg, Ried Schreck and Ried Steiner Hund. They have almost as much weight as the wines from the Ried Loibenberg at the eastern end of the Wachau, but with more freshness and brilliance. I'm no less impressed by the greater tension and raciness of the wines from the top sites of the valley of the Krems, most importantly Ried Ehrenfels, Ried Goldberg, Ried Hochäcker and Ried Pellingen. In their different ways all of these marry generous stone fruit aromas with a hauntingly subtle minerality.

The group of producers who successfully realize this is growing, Malat recently having joined Stift Göttweig, Weingut der Stadt Krems, Nigl, Proidl and the historic star of the region Salomon Unhof, where great wines have been made since the 1930s. I am still waitting to taste the new wines from Urban Stagard, who also made from stunning wines from the top sites of Krems-Stein. (In the Wachau Emmerich Knoll and Pichler-Krutzler make great dry Rieslings from the Ried Pfaffenberg and Nikolaihof from Ried Steiner Hund).

That doesn't mean that I'm immune to the charm of Grüner Veltliner grown on loess, or that I think anyone else should be. And in the 2025 vintage there are a wealth of these wines that give great pleasure right now, are more flexible at the dinner table and less demanding than the still youthful dry Rieslings of this vintage. And for this reason I present a small selection of the best for all readers.

JOYFUL & EXPRESSIVE GRÜNERS FROM THE KREMSTAL

Stift Göttweig  Kremstal  Grüner Veltliner  Ried Gottschelle 1ÖTW  2025 - 13% / What a perfume this innovative Danube wine has! So seductive with rose petals, honeysuckle and jasmine (yes, in a Grüner!)  Sensual, elegant and refined this is a boudoir of delights. Enter and forget all your cares! 96 (SP)

Weingut der Stadt Krems  Kremstal  Grüner Veltliner  Ried Weinzierlberg 1ÖTW  2025 - 13% / What a joyful Grüner! The way that the minerals, the spice and the green pepper freshness interlock here is stunning. Excellent concentration, but no less impressive purity and dynamism. 95 (SP)

Nigl  Kremstal  Grüner Veltliner  Ried Pellingen 1ÖTW  2025 - 13.5% /  I love the orange blssom, Mandarin orange and Persimmon aromas of this beautiful Grüner! Concentrated and succulent, but with a very animating mineral freshness at the very long silky finish. Sophisticated, but so easy to enjoy! 95 (SP)

Salomon Undhof  Kremstal  Grüner Veltliner  Ried Lindberg Alte Reben 1ÖTW  2025 - 13.5% / Magnificent! Not only great concentration, but also finesse. Delicate notes of tobacco leaf and fresh garden herbs. Wonderful elegance and a deep freshness that will give this a long life. Very graceful finish! 95 (SP) 

NOTE: Only for paying subscribers the notes for all 81 wines tasted can be found below. The ratings include one wine 97 and fifteen with 95 or more.