2021 Weingut Stadlmann, Riesling, Niederösterreich, Austria.
The Stadlmann Riesling is bright gold in the glass with flinty aromas and has a steely crisp palate of tart green apple, zesty citrus that leans on grapefruit and lemon, quince and mango fruits, and sees accents of bitter almonds, minty herbs, chamomile tea, crystalized ginger, salty chalk and white pepper. Light framed, pure and quite reductive, this Stadlmann dry Riesling comes a limestone terroir south of Vienna and is best enjoyed with food, with cured meats, pork dishes and less spicy cuisine being best here, as this wine is not overly generous and more serious in nature. Winemaker Johann Stadlmann has gained experience in the past having made wines in areas like Alsace, Germany and Alto Adige, and he has become one of this lesser known region’s key personalities. His no manipulation, all organic winemaking, all striving to be in harmony with nature, has always been the mission here at Stadlmann and I was excited to finally try his wine. The zingy all stainless raised Stadlmann 2021 Riesling is more of a wine nerds offering and takes a while to blow off and open up, give it time to reveal itself, it should evolve nicely for another decade in bottle.
The Weingut Stadlmann’s history of winemaking dates back seven generations to as early as 1780, and is carried on by the iconic Johann Stadlmann, who is deeply passionate about the unique set of varietals planted in his distinctive terroir. The estate is located in Thermonregion, 20 minutes south of Vienna on ancient limestone hillsides, where Stadlmann has an exotic group of grapes planted, including the extremely rare Zierfandler, Neuburger and Rotgipfler varietals, along with Riesling, as see here, and Pinot Blanc, Grüner Veltliner, St. Laurent, Muscat, Cabernet, Zweigelt and Pinot Noir. The winery says that in the cellar, that they deliberately take a back seat and allow the wines sufficient time to mature. In this way, they add, these authentic wines are continuously vinified with precise craftsmanship that expresses their sense of place in all facets and believe that they have enormous aging potential. Traditionally, these wines have been matured in large old barrels, but Stadlmann has added some stainless steel and reductive winemaking in recent years, as this Riesling saw, giving it a bone dry and intensely fresh style.
($24 Est.) 90 Points, grapelive