Leth Ried Scheiben Erste Lage Gruner Veltliner 2022
(Wagram, Austria)

About the winery:
In the midst of Wagram, a gently sloping and at the same time very powerful terrain step that gives the landscape its name, runs our family a vinery with passion, idealism and innovation in the third generation. The Wagram offers ideal conditions for viticulture. It was created by glacial winds on the ancient rock base of the Danube and consists of layers of loess up t0 20 meters high. This well penetrable soil allows the roots of the vins to absorb water and nutrients even from great depths. Together with the influence of the Pannonian climate, Wagram offers perfect conditions for unique and characterful wines with fine spice and the typical creaminess. This applies not only to Gruner Veltliner, but to Roter Veltliner, which enjoys a long tradition on the Wagram.

About the vineyard:

Appellation: Scheiben vineyard is located on the centre of the Wagram slope, strictly south faced on an altitude of 240-260 m. Famous for rich and powerful wines.

Soil: pure Loess, rich in limestone Age of the vineyard: more than50 years Viticulture: Our goal is sustainable viticulture! We do not use herbicides for 25 years, have banned insecticides since a decade now from our vineyards and plant protection follows organic standards with bio certification from 2021. Due to the advantage of Loess terroir, we don’t need to irrigate vines, green covering of the soil keeps it healthy and requires no fertilizers. Harvesting is only done by hand with strictly grape selection, only the best fruit is used for our top wines.

Winemaking:

We use only selected handpicked and healthy grapes without any Botrytis. After arrival on the winery, we do only a gentle cluster crushing and a short skin contact around 2-3 hours, pressing is done by pneumatic press. The juice can settle then for about 12 hours, only the clear juice is used for fermentation which is done by our own yeast selection in temperature controlled large acacia barrels. During January it is racked with fine yeast into other barrels of same size and style where we allow the wine to mature until bottling time, usually somewhere in beginning of August. Available from September.

Tasting notes:

Medium green-yellow. Elegant aromas and flavors of Golden Delicious apple and passion fruit are enveloped in delicate orange zest and a touch of peppery spice. Tautly structured with juicy acidity. Notes of tropical fruit join in on the dark mineral finish. Scheiben vineyard is a character on its own, expressive fruit and with majestic length. Excellent aging potential.