Schloss Gobelsburg
Schloss Gobelsburg
This Article Contains |
People |
Michael & Eva Moosbrugger
Focus |
Grüner Veltliner & Riesling which shows character, authenticity and the individuality of each site and style
.
Country |
Austria
Region |
Kamptal
Village |
Langenlois
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.
- Kamptal is cooled by air coming down from the north, especially the valley’s and surrounding forest. But warmth comes in the form of hot eastern gusts, helping to ripen the grapes and keep disease at bay.
- 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.
- 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 |
- Heiligenstein: Most famous site in Kamptal and one of the great vineyards of Austria. This terraced hill is an outcropping of 270 million year old unique formation of red sandstone and conglomerate with volcanic permian rocks. Superb Riesling is to be found here. Some plots are up to 60 years old.
- Gaisberg: Zoibing Village. The easternmost end of the Gföhler Gneiss plate that runs under the Kamptal, soils are made up of slatey para-gneiss, mica-schist, and amphibolite (metamorphic rocks formed from intense heat and pressure). Some of the Riesling terraces are the oldest vineyards in the winery’s possession.
- Kammerner Renner: Deep loess soils with eroded gneiss, mica and amphibolite from the Gaisberg vineyard above.
- Lamm: Kammerman Village. Southeast of the Heiligenstein vineyard is the Ried Lamm. The deep loess-loam formation is interspersed with volcanic rock with a distinctive silt component. Grüner Veltliner finds ideal conditions on these deep, south-facing loess-loam terraces, to produce a particularly complex and expressive wine.
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.
- Zweigelt
- a crossing of Blaufränkisch and Sankt Laurent
- The most widely planted red grape in Austria
- Capable of making oak aged, opulent wines
- Best suited for early consumption.
- It is almost always violet in color with notes of cherry and raspberry, pepper and pleasingly mouth watering sweet tarts. The crunchy acidity lends way to easily navigated tannins.
- Some carbonic styles have the joie de vivre of Beaujolais.
- Sparkling wines made in a pet-nat style are increasingly popular and as an everyday pizza pairer it’s hard to beat.
- Sankt Laurent
- Long thought to be a relative of Pinot Noir for its similar body and aromatics, Sankt Laurent is now known to be an unrelated and indigenous variety.
- It’s mainly grown in Burgenland and Thermenregion
- Makes for pretty, delicate wines, sometimes oak aged, with soft tannin.
- Never accumulates a lot of sugar, meaning it's always going to be light in body with low alcohol.
- Pinot Noir
- Brought by the same Cistearcian monks with the rest of the Burgundy varieties
- Burgenland and Thermenregion.
- There are beautiful examples especially on limestone soils with careful winemaking
Farming |
Organic
- Practicing since 1958
Cellar Work |
Traditional
- Dynamic Cellar Concept
- Wines are not pumped from one location to another
- They are moved in barrels on wheels from one part of the cellar to another.
- Barrels are all made from oak from Manhartsberg, north of Langenlois
- They believe that the future is wine of individuality and character, rather than uniformity.
- The only way to achieve this is with fewer machines.
- Oldest part of the cellar is from the 11th century
- “Tradition” series of wines produced based off of texts from monks 150 years ago. Very reductive, in wood for long aging.
About the winery |
A Cistercian monastic estate founded in 1171 (!!!), Schloss Gobelsburg is one of the largest holders of local “Grand Cru” terroirs: Heiligenstein, Gaisberg, Lamm, Renner, and Grub. When you mix all that tradition and terroir with top-notch winemaking you get brilliant, age-worthy wines of complexity and depth.
Eva and Michael Moosbrugger were granted the winemaking and viticultural contract in 1996, and with the help and guidance of Michael’s mentor, Willi Bründlmayer, the winery has regained its prestige and is considered to be a leader in quality and innovation.
What do the wines taste like?
Honest clean wines. Lively, with nice fruit but it plays background to the earthier elements. These are wines of serenity and peace. They taste like they are made by patient hands and require an open patient mind. That is not to say they aren’t easy to drink, but there are layers just under the surface if you give them a little extra attention.
Wines on Offer |
Schloss Gobelsburg, Riesling Schlosskellerei Gobelsburg Kamptal DAC, 2022 $23.99 $21.11
"This is vibrant, peachy and wow, a great hit of acidity driving through the finish. It’s bright, effusive, open, the second half of the wine is all about minerality." — Gabriel Clary, Skurnik Wines
Schloss Gobelsburg, Schlosskellerei Gobelsburg Cistercien Rosé, 2022 $20.99 $18.47
Schloss Gobelsburg, Zweigelt Schlosskellerei Gobelsburg, 2021 $21.99 $19.35
Schloss Gobelsburg, Blanc de Blancs Brut, NV $54.99 $48.39
“Based on the 2017 vintage and dosed as brut in March 2020, the NV Blanc de Blancs is a cuvée of Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc and Welschriesling, all fermented in 5,000-liter oak vats. The intensely yellow-colored wine offers a very rich and intense nose of ripe fruits with buttercup, grassy and flinty notes, from a bigger glass with more refreshing citrus and intense brioche aromas. Fresh on the palate, this is an elegant, stunningly pure and stimulating sparkling wine that is less opulent than the nose. The wine is vital and lemony on the finish, revealing a firm structure and fine grip. Tasted at Schloss Gobelsburg in June 2021. 93 pts” — Stephan Reinhardt, The Wine Advocate
Schloss Gobelsburg, Brut Reserve, NV $48.99 $43.11
Schloss Gobelsburg, Brut Reserve, NV (1.5L) $89.99 $79.19
“The NV Brut Reserve (disgorged in May 2021) is based on the 2016 vintage and includes 50% Grüner Veltliner, 20% Zweigelt and 30% Welschriesling, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Vinified in stainless steel and disgorged after four years with a dosage of seven grams per liter, the vividly yellow-colored wine offers an intense yet elegant, refined and floral bouquet of ripe and nutty-scented fruit intermixed with fresh bread notes. Mouthfilling, round and juicy on the palate, with remarkable finesse and a highly delicate finish, this is a round, fruity and perfectly balanced sparkling wine based on grapes from the Kamptal. Tasted at Schloss Gobelsburg in June 2021. 92 pts” — Stephan Reinhardt, The Wine Advocate
Schloss Gobelsburg, Brut Rosé, NV $52.99 $46.63
“Based on the 2017 vintage and disgorged in July 2020 (07/20), the NV Brut Rosé is a pale salmon colored blend of 65% Zweigelt and 35% Pinot Noir, both fermented in large oak vats, with malolactic fermentation done in stainless steel. The wine shows the highly delicate bouquet of a matured wine and reveals a vinous character with very fine red berry and sweet cherry aromas along with notes of brioche, herbs (oregano, marjoram), flint and refreshing lemon aromas. Beautifully light, fine and tender on the palate, this is an intense, round and perfectly balanced and vinous rosé with a delicate grip on the finish. 11.5% alcohol. Tasted at Schloss Gobelsburg in June 2021. 92 pts” — Stephan Reinhardt, The Wine Advocate
Schloss Gobelsburg, Grüner Veltliner Gobelsburg Kamptal DAC, 2022 $27.99 $24.63
Schloss Gobelsburg, Grüner Veltliner Gobelsburg Kamptal DAC, 2022 (375ml) $20.99 $18.47
"Connected to the fact that we are now getting defined designations for villages – this is excellent, more direct and not at all tropical, sandy structures, pebbles and on the top of the hill you have rocks, which means the top of this plateau will be red wine. Low cover of loess, 10-30cm, below you have all of the alluvial sedimentations. This feels cooler structured and less overtly ripe than Steinsetz, which can be more ripe, leaning to tropical in some vintages. Will be under screwcap and the Freiheit, Reidling, vineyard on the south slope is Gebling, Kirchengarten. I really like this little wine." — Gabriel Clary, Skurnik Wines
Schloss Gobelsburg, Grüner Veltliner Lamm 1 ÖTW Kamptal DAC, 2021 $84.99 $74.79
Schloss Gobelsburg, Grüner Veltliner Lamm 1 ÖTW Kamptal DAC, 2021 (375ml) $44.99 $39.59
"This doesn’t have the overt character of Grub, it is a little more mysterious and a bit more shadowed, the wine is ripe, it is bigger in structure but also deeper and a bit more intense. While the acidity doesn’t feel more pronounced, or indeed as present as it does in Renner, it is again bringing a huge amount of lift to the wines. More coiled and lying in wait and has just an intense length. This is the best vintage I have tasted of this wine since 2013, but a bit less primary." — Gabriel Clary, Skurnik Wines
Schloss Gobelsburg, Grüner Veltliner Langenlois Kamptal DAC, 2022 $36.99 $32.55
"This is richer, more loess based, with broader shoulders and the fruit feels riper with a more peppery touch than Gobelsburg. Under cork. This really makes sense and the dynamic of the wines is very interesting – more movement and layers than the Gobelsburg village wine with a warmer-hearted structure." — Gabriel Clary, Skurnik Wines
Schloss Gobelsburg, Grüner Veltliner Renner 1 ÖTW Kamptal DAC, 2021 $56.99 $50.15
"This is a classic vintage of this wine, ripe, but with a great mineral touch, finished with an uplifting freshness. This is a bit more direct and not angular but more in that direction. It has the mineral flourishes, but so much freshness, this is a wine of pure pleasure and depth. The fruit character is almost Riesling-like in this vintage." — Gabriel Clary, Skurnik Wines
Schloss Gobelsburg, Grüner Veltliner Schlosskellerei Gobelsburg Kamptal DAC, 2022 $21.99 $19.35
"This is delicious, classic and has good acidity, and feels very fresh. A bit of a pepper-y hit here. Orchard fruits pear, apple rather than stone fruits. The kind of seamless drinkability that we expect from this wine." — Gabriel Clary, Skurnik Wines
Schloss Gobelsburg, Grüner Veltliner Steinsetz Kamptal DAC, 2021 $32.99 $29.03
“The 2021 Ried Steinsetz Kamptal offers a very clear, fresh and elegant, spicy and even flinty bouquet of white fruits and crushed stones. Round and dense on the palate, this is a medium to full-bodied, lush and elegant Grüner Veltliner with intense fruit and a mild texture. The acidity is ripe and elegant and combines with fine phenolic grip on the finish. Pretty intense and with good length. 13% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted at the domaine in September 2022. 92 pts” — Stephan Reinhardt, The Wine Advocate
Schloss Gobelsburg, Pinot Noir Reserve, 2019 $64.99 $57.19
“Fermented with 30% whole clusters and 70% uncrushed berries, the 2019 Pinot Noir Reserve is pure, intense and very elegant on the deep, dense and finely toasty nose that reveals discreet nougat aromas. On the palate, this is a full-bodied, intense and elegant, aromatic but also structured Pinot Noir with a silky-elegant texture, fine tannins and crystalline acidity. 13% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted at the domaine in September 2022. 93 pts” — Stephan Reinhardt, The Wine Advocate
Schloss Gobelsburg, Riesling Gaisberg 1 ÖTW Kamptal DAC, 2021 $54.99 $48.39
"This has more depth than zobing, quite open actually and has a little bit more this kind of creaminess but not in a weighing down kind of way, it’s as if the fruit was dipped sheen of sweetness, making it more concentrated and riper. This has more overt ripeness than Zobing village wine at the moment, but it also has a bit more of this kind of flow and narrative arc. The arc is higher – this feels more sweet fruited than past vintages dashing the theory of longer lees and aging in the cellar." — Gabriel Clary, Skurnik Wines
Schloss Gobelsburg, Riesling Heiligenstein 1 ÖTW Kamptal DAC, 2021 $79.99 $70.39
Schloss Gobelsburg, Riesling Heiligenstein 1 ÖTW Kamptal DAC, 2021 (375ml) $44.99 $39.59
Schloss Gobelsburg, Riesling Heiligenstein 1 ÖTW Kamptal DAC, 2021 (1.5L) $154.99 $136.39
"that has this aroma that Terry always calls “haunting” it’s like the essence of fruit passed through a mineral wall. The 2019 felt bigger and broader, more powerful, but this actually feels deeper and more balanced, this is just a wonderful iteration of this wine and the most profound since the monumental 2019 vintage." — Gabriel Clary, Skurnik Wines
Schloss Gobelsburg, Riesling Zöbing Kamptal DAC, 2021 $34.99 $30.79
“Gobelsburg's 2021 Zöbing Kamptal Riesling offers a clear, beautifully intense and spicy bouquet intermingling ripe and well-concentrated fruit with flinty aromas of crushed stones. Lush and savory on the palate, this is a light but grippy and tensioned Riesling with a precise, well-structured and persistently aromatic finish. Excellent. 13% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted at the domaine in September 2022. 91 pts” — Stephan Reinhardt, The Wine Advocate
Schloss Gobelsburg, Tradition 10 Years Edition 851, NV $169.99 $149.59
Schloss Gobelsburg, Tradition 10 Years Edition 851, NV (1.5L) $350.00 $308.00
"This feels a bit tighter and a bit more influence from oak, it feels a tighter band of flavor, more controlled and more intense. This is excellent and again, resonant. This is the grown-up older brother to the softer, more baby 3 year. Much to like here." — Gabriel Clary, Skurnik Wines
Schloss Gobelsburg, Tradition 3 Years Edition 851, NV $59.99 $52.79
Schloss Gobelsburg, Tradition 3 Years Edition 851, NV (1.5L) $114.99 $101.19
“Based on Gaisberg Riesling and Renner Grüner Veltliner, the NV Tradition Heritage Cuvée 3 Years Edition 851 combines the vintages 2019 and 2017. Deep, intense and very elegant on the nose, with ripe but fine fruit aromas, this is a full-bodied, textured, very elegant and balanced white wine with lots of Veltliner features. The wine has ripe and elegant acidity but reveals fine and grippy tannins on the intensely aromatic finish. 13.5% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted at the domaine in September 2022. To be released in mid-autumn. 93 pts” — Stephan Reinhardt, The Wine Advocate
Schloss Gobelsburg, Vintage RD Brut Reserve, 2008 $114.99 $101.19
"Creamy, lemony chalkiness on the nose promises a serious wine, with some age. The slender palate comes in with tiny bubbles of creamy foam, dancing against a yeasty, chalky, stony backdrop. They release notions of lemon and honey, contradictory notions that create drama, richness and freshness. The finish is creamy, intense with chalkiness, long and dry. 93 pts"" — Anne Krebiehl MW
Schloss Gobelsburg, Vintage RD Extra Brut Reserve, 2010 $119.99 $105.59
Schloss Gobelsburg, Vintage RD Extra Brut Reserve, 2012 $134.99 $118.79
""a bit or reduction, DP like, this is very dry not quite as harmonious and there are edges of the maturing flavors. This is good.""