2023 Weingut Berger, Gelber Muskateller, Kremstal, Austria.
Digging deeper into the collection of Berger wines, beyond the basic Grüner Veltliner by Erich Berger, you’ll find some other outstanding values, especially the Rieslings and this highly aromatic and dry Gelber Muskateller, which is a fun and delicious Summer wine with classic Muscat jasmine perfume, a touch of spearmint, vibrant white peach, lemon/lime and crisp green apple, along with a stony element and bitter almond note. This is fine light bodied effort that is a fabulous aperitif wine and or fun picnic wine, being fresh and zesty it also goes nicely with lighter sea food dishes. An ancient, very floral varietal, the light hued gold/green berried Gelber Muskateller, which is the German (and Austrian) name for Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains, a white wine grape that some believe originates from Greece, though certainly around the Mediterranean Sea, and is also commonly in Italian and French region, with Alsace maybe the most famous. It’s also quite versatile and can be used to make dry, sweet and sparkling wines with great success and is even done in a tawny port style too, most notably in Australia. Muscat is one of the oldest grape varieties in the world, of which there are many distinct different clones or genetic version, especially in Italy, and are differentiated by the color of the berries, like yellow, orange and black. Grown in the Kremstal on Loess and deep brown rich soils with gravel and marl, Berger’s Muskateller is slowly fermented and then shortly aged exclusively in temperature controlled stainless steel tank to allow for freshness of detail and transparency. I’m a fan of dry Muscat, especially from Müller-Catoir in the Pfalz, Germany, and in Alsace, but for everyday drinking it is easy to love this zesty/tangy Berger version.
As noted with my reviews of Berger’s wines, in the cellar, Erich Berger does everything to preserve and focus of vitality and freshness, he uses only ultra clean practices with his Grüner, Riesling and Muskateller only seeing selected cultured yeasts and temperature controlled stainless steel fermentation(s) and aging, nothing fancy, but highly effective for transparency and clarity of form. Erich Berger, the winegrower, is one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet and completely humble, and to taste his his wines is always a pleasure, and as mentioned they all impress for their no pretense quality, and in particular, this one. Weingut Berger has implemented methods, such as organic farming, and a focus on sustainable practices to produce wines that showcase terroir and varietal character, and while always highlighted as a value producer, the game has changed here, as mentioned before in my prior reviews, and the wines are certainly winners through out the collection. I met up with Erich’s son Max at a recent tasting in San Francisco, with Berger’s importer Skurnik Wines, and was again impressed with the quality here, especially Berger’s white grape wines, as noted above, that come from steep terraced sites in the eastern section of the Kremstal region, not far from the Danube River, just to the west of Vienna on classic loess soils. I have really enjoyed Berger’s wines over the years, and have noticed a surge in quality in recent years and highly recommend the current vintages, in particular the Grüners of course, with the 1L bottle being an outstanding quaffer, along with the more serious single cru offerings, like the Gedersdorf Kremstal Grüner, as well as the superb intense Kremstal Ried Steiner Pfaffenberg Riesling, which is the most limited in the portfolio.
($24 Est.) 91 Points, grapelive