Nigl

Nigl

This Article Contains People Focus Country Region Village Climate Vineyards Grape Varieties Farming Cellar Work About the winery What do the wines taste like?

People |

Martin Nigl & his son Martin Jr.

Focus |

Crystalline and transcendent Grüner Veltliner and Riesling from a cold sliver of the Kremstal.

Country |

Austria

Region |

Kremstal

Village |

Priel

Climate: |

Cool Continental

• Defined as very cold winters, hot, short, fairly rainy summers, with long, cool, dry autumns.
• Now: winters are usually not as cold, summers are much hotter, drought is a serious problem 4 or the last 5 years, autumns start later and are often much wetter than they used to be.
• There is a big diurnal shift (difference between day and night temperatures) starting in the fall. This extends the growing season and gives Austrian wines their signature balance of freshness and ripeness, opulence and grace.
• Kremstal especially is colder than the Wachau at night thanks to cool air coming down from the north, and the valley’s and surrounding forest. Warmth comes in the form of hot eastern gusts, helping to ripen the grapes and keep disease at bay.
• Cool climate wines are high in acid, low in alcohol, light in body, and often show a lot of mineral flavors rather than fruit.
• Usually white wines are made, but some light reds, like Pinot Noir can also ripen well.
• Warmer vintages: 2020, 2019, 2018, 2015 produce wines with lower acidity, higher alcohols, and richer fruit flavors.
• Cooler vintages: 2021, 2013, 2010, 2008 produce what are now considered “classic” cool-climate wines.

Vineyards |

25 ha in Krems, geologically the same as Wachau, with a political border between them.

• Senftenberger Piri: South facing mica-schist, planted to both Grüner Veltliner and Riesling. Very distinct wines.

• Senftenberger Hochäcker: Separated from the Pellingen vineyard by only a wall. Soils are mica-schist. High elevation, steep terraces, south, southwest facing. Home to incredible Riesling.

• Senftenberger Pellingen: Bedrock of mica-schist with 35-45 year old vines, more steep terraces not quite as high as Hochäcker, perfect for Grüner Veltliner.

• Rehberger Goldberg: Amphibolite soils (metamorphic rock) planted to Riesling. Cooler sight with more elegant wines.

Grape Varieties |

• Grüner Veltliner: 
• A true Austrian treasure. Grüner is rarely planted outside of its home country, but is revered the world over. 
• Mainly grown in the Lower Austrian region (Niederösterreich) with some vines in northernmost Burgenland, it holds 30% of the country’s vineyard area. 
• Grüner is dynamic making it known for easily quaffable fresh and fruity wines. But, it just as easily becomes Austria’s most famous long-lived, mineral-laden beauties and some delicious sekt (wine made with bubbles). 
• Wines from Grüner Veltliner have continuously taken top marks in blind tastings against Chardonnay from Burgundy and California, displaying a richness and concentration sans the oak barrels its competitors rely on. 
• Its flavors range from stone fruit, fresh pear, lemon, green herbs, arugula, and spicy white or black pepper. The best versions can age for decades and develop complex notes of honey, toast, chutney and wax.

• Riesling
• The King of White Grapes
• You’ll find it on the peaks of high, rocky, steep vineyards in the Wachau, Kamptal and Kremstal.
• What they lack in vineyard area, these wines make up for in pure, clear, undeniable quality. 
• The best examples show the beauty that can come from a perfect marriage: these wines bring the acidity of the Mosel, matched with the density of Alsacian Grand Crus, but are always dry and ready to age for decades. 
• They often benefit from 5-10 years of bottle age, but your patience is greatly rewarded with a kaleidoscope of flavors and textures. 
• Fruits span the rainbow depending on the site, style and vintage, from green melon, lime and herbs, yellow peaches and lemons, orange zest and marmalade, pink grapefruit, even a touch of cherry on occasion. But the real beauty lies in the non-fruit notes. Especially with age, you can get stony minerality, petrol, honey, toast, salt, marzipan and so much more.

• Sauvignon Blanc
• Far from its home in the Loire Valley, Sauvignon Blanc has found a foothold in the rolling limestone hills of Styria with a few vineyards in Burgenland and the Niederösterreich (Lower Austria). 
• Globally, consumers have divided this aromatic variety into two distinct styles: Sancerre and New Zealand. 
• But what if I told you, there is more this grape can do? The loud varietal characters are present but are balanced with a clear sense of place, not piercingly green, or passion fruit laden, but delicate and mineral driven.
• Pinot Blanc / Weissburgunder
• The secret weapon Austrian whites. 
• It was brought over with the Cisterian monks in the 10th century and is grown in small pockets in all the wine regions. 
• Similar to Chardonnay, but with softer flavors and acidity. 
• Makes great simple quaffing wines. But grown in the best plots it makes some of the most surprisingly concentrated and long lived wines in the country. 
• It’s not exported often so bottles are hard to find outside of Austria, but not to be missed if you can lay your hands on one.
• The Hiedlers were the first to plant this in Kamptal in 1955.

• Chardonnay 
• Another grape brought over by the Cistercian monks so it’s had a long time to make a home for itself. 
• Grown across the country, it is made in styles that range from light, unoaked, and Chablisienne to big, broad and toasty. 
• There are some beautiful examples, Burgenland, Vienna, Lower Austria and especially the Steiermark.

Farming |

Sustainable

• No herbicides or insecticides
• Cover crops of legumes and herbs
• Avoids copper, which he considers detrimental to his vines’ vitality, and harmful to the soil.

Cellar Work |

Modern - Low Intervention

• Whole cluster pressing, never de-stems
• settles musts by gravity only
• Uses only ambient yeasts
• Almost exclusively in stainless steel
• Racks twice
• Never fines before bottling

About the winery |

A beautiful Kremstal estate at the end of a cool valley, surrounded by steep loess and rocky slopes. Only in its second generation of winemaking, after hundreds of years of vine growing. Father and son, Martin Sr. and Martin Jr. are quickly elevating their reputation around the world. 

They have slowly expanded their holdings over 30 years. Replanting sites that were abandoned, rebuilding terraced walls by hand, and always improving farming and cellar work. They also renovated their 800 year old cellar, a perfect cold, dark environment to produce these incredible wines.

What do the wines taste like?

A tasting at the winery floored us with a kaleidoscopic array of flavors across the line up of intense and concentrated wines. The aged bottles were magical. Martin Jr's recent influence has pushed the wines towards more elegance and freshness with their Kremstal Grüner Veltliner, a perennial staff favorite.