Riesling Gaisberg Erste Lage, Gobelsburg

The 2020 Ried Gaisberg 1ÖTW offers a clear, precise and spicy apricot nose with spicy notes of black rock splinters. Lush and savory as well as saline on the palate, with crystalline acidity and almost tropical fruit (passion fruit), this is a very elegant and aromatic, tightly structured yet perfectly balanced and sustainable Gaisberg Riesling with stimulating purity and crystallinity. - Stephan Reinhardt

The 2019 Zöbing Ried Gaisberg 1ÖTW is a picture-book Kamptal Riesling! Super clear, refined and aromatic on the complex and exciting nose, it reveals apricot and elderflower aromas intertwined with crunchy slate spices (shaly paragneiss, amphibolite and mica shist) that give a very distinctive bouquet. The palate starts electrifying in all its vitality and immediately opens to a palatable Riesling paradise built on perfectly ripe and concentrated fruit (still stone fruits). This Gaisberg Riesling is generous, intense and fleshy but also highly fine, fresh and elegant on the palate, which is as balanced as it is dense and tensioned, leading to a spectacular, long and vivacious finish that makes this 2019 Gaisberg one the finest and most digestible Austrian Rieslings I have had in 20 years. 13% alcohol. Tasted at Schloss Gobelsburg in June 2021 and, to make sure I wasn't in a delirium, in my home office again over several days a month later. - Stephan Reinhardt

Crystalline rocks. Deep and golden on the nose but no suggestion of sweetness. Ripe citrus and golden spice. A complex meeting point of sweet fruit and savoury, stony minerality. Really hard to describe. Rich, yet mouth-watering and very long. - Julia Harding MW

Ripe mango, a ton of spice and serious concentration make this an imposing, traditional style of Austrian dry riesling. Lots of power at the long finish, where you also get some exotic fruit to go with the substantial portion of spice and minerals.

Mittleres Gelbgrün, Silberreflexe. Zarter Blütenhonig, ein Hauch von Mango und Papaya, etwas Melisse, Orangenzesten klingen an. Gute Komplexität, saftig, facettenreiche Säurestruktur, mineralisch, weißer Pfirsich im Abgang, bleibt gut haften, vielseitiger Speisenbegleiter. - Stephan Reinhardt

From Zöbing, the 2018 Ried Gaisberg 1ÖTW is deep, pure and flinty on the concentrated and complex nose. Tight and fresh on the pure and crystalline palate, this is a firmly structured, finessed and salty, still very young and tight Riesling with impressive grip and tension. The 2018 Gaisberg is a very promising dry Riesling that will improve in the bottle. Keep it cool for at least three or four years. - Stephan Reinhardt

The interplay between ripe tropical fruit, apple tart and then much brighter mountain flowers and spices, such as eidelweiss and orange blossom, infused in spring mist. Very full-bodied and powerful, but impeccably nuanced and structured, in view of the piercing, tightly wound acidity.

Spjættende livfuld væske, der dufter og smager af aristokratisk vin in spe; grannåle og eisbonbon, grapefrugt og citrusolie med urter og lindeblomst. Ganske kompleks og helstøbt, vinen bruser og bobler hen over tungen med sin perlende struktur og enormt saftige frugtsyre, der er vævet så fint ind i den salte, stenede væske. Stadig meget ung og let reduktiv, præget af sine let røgede, flintede vildgærsaromaer. Smagen sætter sig i hele munden, her er masser af bund og balance – og frem for alt stor nerve. En af Kamptals spydspidser. - Morten Bundgaard

You sniff several things at once. A touch of flinty reduction, the tropical allure of passion fruit and the juicy promise of ripe Mandarin orange. The palate comes in with enough zestiness to be very refreshing, yet juicy. There is as much lemon flavor on the palate as there is riper citrus, but it is the lemon that provides zestiness, bounce, freshness and focus. - Anne Krebiehl MW

Moosbrugger's 2017 Zöbing Ried Gaisberg "1ÖTW" is as pure as intensely aromatic on the nose. Round, lush and fine on the palate, with crystalline structure and salinity and a velvety texture, this is still characterized by the lees' aging. This is a salty-piquant, pure and even crunchy Riesling with great intensity and length. - Stephan Reinhardt

Helles Gelbgrün, Silberreflexe. Mit feinem Blütenhonig unterlegte, feine Weingartenpfirsichfrucht, ein Hauch von Maracuja, florale Nuancen, sehr attraktives Bukett. Engmaschig, feine weiße Steinobstnuancen, finessenreich strukturiert, saliner Abgang, sehr vielschichtig und gut anhaltend, sicheres Reifepotential.

The 2016 Ried Gaisberg 1ÖTW is a Kamptal Riesling from the Kammerner Gaisberg and has a dense and concentrated nose with fresh lemon and vegetal aromas of green asparagus intermixed with peppery and crystalline flavors. On the palate, this is a pure, dry, straight, finessed and beautifully salty Riesling that doesn't have any flesh or sugar grams on its bones. It is a highly delicate, pure and elegant Gaisberg with a great grip. It is an enormously stimulating and refreshing Riesling. A great Riesling not just for Riesling freaks. Tasted as a sample in June 2017. At this price you can hardly get any better Riesling than Gobelsburg's Gaisberg or Bründlmayer's regular Heiligenstein. - Stephan Reinhardt

Ripe Amalfi lemon and the savory peel of still-green Seville oranges make for a heady alluring flavor combination. The same notions also beguile on the palate where they become even more intense. All of this is delivered in a powerful but compact parcel of exquisite cleanliness. This encapsulates the Austrian virtue of precise pleasure perfectly.

Cork closure. Intense and slightly smoky lemon and lime fruit but with an 'Austrian' peppery quality to it. Bone dry, paper-fine, stony texture. Finesse and great length. More restraint than many wines in this vintage but no lack of depth or length. - Julia Harding

The 2015 Ried Gaisberg 1ÖTW shows an intense and well-concentrated nose of ripe (and overripe?) Riesling berries and stewed stone fruits. On the palate this is a lush and aromatic but pure and very elegant Gaisberg whose richness and mango fruit is well structured and fresh. The long and kicking finish is intensely fruity but also stimulatingly piquant and salty. - Stephan Reinhardt

Where its Heiligenstein counterpart was luscious, soothing and florally perfumed, this Gaisberg is sharply focused and transparent to invigorating impingements of lime zest, white pepper, and stone. Its concentration of floral and green herbal elements takes a high-toned and palate-penetrating Chartreuse-like form. A fundament of white peach and lime guarantees lusciousness as well as refreshing primary juiciness. The finish is unusually sharp and vibrant for the vintage, and it will be fascinating to follow this wine’s fortunes in bottle. - David Schildknecht