ÖhlzeltRiesling Heiligenstein (750ml)

Barbara Öhlzelt is turning the region’s paradigm completely on its head. Instead of the unctuous, powerful and masculine wines of the famous large estates, Barbara’s wines emphasize focus and a quiet, simmering intensity. They are fine, clearly delineated, precisely-etched renditions of Grüner Veltliner and Riesling with just as much depth and persistence as the big boys, but on a lighter, more refreshing frame. They really are like the wines of Weiser-Künstler, but translated into the dialect of the Kamptal – loess, granite and sandstone, rather than slate. It should go without saying, but of course the wines are loaded with mouth-watering acidity and the alcohol levels are carefully restrained. Barbara is soft-spoken but intense; the wines are not unlike their shepherd. These are racy, delicate wines of purity and energy, and are exactly what the next chapter in the story of Austrian wine should be.

Heiligenstein is home to 25-year-old vines on sandstone with coarse conglomerates of minerals such as feldspar and siltstone. The rocks contain fossilized plants and gravels with volcanic rhyolites. Loess is only preserved in a few locations, within shallow depressions. This is generally a warmer site, yet Barbara is still able to preserve her trademark racy style, here with more structure and citrus.

This is perhaps the most famous site of the Kamptal, a huge sandstone and loess outcropping that frames the first part of the more elevated parts of the Kamptal, as you move north, away from the Danube and toward the cooler Weinviertel. If these wines tend to be the most plush and powerful, the “fruitiest” of the Kamptal, Barbara’s version takes this pungency and shapes it – sharpens it. This is about as fresh and focused a Heiligenstein as I’ve ever had; the nose is shrieking with a salty minerality and high-toned citrus, lime zest and orange oils. While the fruit is explosive – it is also bouncy, threaded with acidity. There is a bonkers concentration – yet also an airiness to the wine – and expansiveness that feels saturating but not heavy or gooey. This is just superb – unreal. Try this next to an Alzinger or Knoll Loibenberg!