WINE ADVOCATE 90 POINTS The 2017 Gruner Veltliner Handwerk is pure, intense and stony on the elegant, distinctive and wonderfully yeasty nose. Lush and round on the palate, this is a medium-bodied, well-balanced and quiet Veltliner with charm, tension and good length and body. The wine receives its body and vinous texture from the long aging on the lees. Tasted January 2019.
The grapes were crushed and macerated for 24hr before spontaneously fermenting in stainless steel, where it remained for 8 months.
2017 is probably the best vintage Dominique and Urban Stagard have produced so far. At least, I haven’t tasted such a great and homogeneous series here before. Readers should check out the basic Handwerk Riesling and Gruner Veltliner from this growing family domaine in Krems-Stein: They are gorgeous, with the Riesling slightly in front. Gruner Veltliner, however, is becoming a bit more popular at this Riesling-dominated domaine. The Goldberg and the new Kreuzberg are among the very best you can find in the Krems, Kamp and Traisen in 2017. They are bright, fresh and vivacious—exactly the opposite of so many 2017 Veltliner peers. Some of the most exciting Rieslings from the Danube River today are also made by the Stagards. The fascinating 2017 Braunsdorfer is as sharp and precise as a Japanese knife. The Steiner Schreck is also a great dry Riesling, but you have to be ready to dance on the edge. Readers who don't believe in "alternative" wines should taste the 501, one of the standout wines (though not for the first time) from the innovative Stagards. It is made from late-harvested grapes from the very best sites and is vinified in a 500-liter barrel, where the wine is kept on the full lees until the bottling. Aeration helps, but this is helpful for many of the 2017s here. Since most of them were bottled very late in 2018 (and were still not ready to taste in September when I was in Austria), I could only review them in January 2019. These unique, always precise, vibrantly fresh and elegant wines with their German buoyancy have been available in the US for a few years now. Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate.
The grapes were crushed and macerated for 24hr before spontaneously fermenting in stainless steel, where it remained for 8 months.
2017 is probably the best vintage Dominique and Urban Stagard have produced so far. At least, I haven’t tasted such a great and homogeneous series here before. Readers should check out the basic Handwerk Riesling and Gruner Veltliner from this growing family domaine in Krems-Stein: They are gorgeous, with the Riesling slightly in front. Gruner Veltliner, however, is becoming a bit more popular at this Riesling-dominated domaine. The Goldberg and the new Kreuzberg are among the very best you can find in the Krems, Kamp and Traisen in 2017. They are bright, fresh and vivacious—exactly the opposite of so many 2017 Veltliner peers. Some of the most exciting Rieslings from the Danube River today are also made by the Stagards. The fascinating 2017 Braunsdorfer is as sharp and precise as a Japanese knife. The Steiner Schreck is also a great dry Riesling, but you have to be ready to dance on the edge. Readers who don't believe in "alternative" wines should taste the 501, one of the standout wines (though not for the first time) from the innovative Stagards. It is made from late-harvested grapes from the very best sites and is vinified in a 500-liter barrel, where the wine is kept on the full lees until the bottling. Aeration helps, but this is helpful for many of the 2017s here. Since most of them were bottled very late in 2018 (and were still not ready to taste in September when I was in Austria), I could only review them in January 2019. These unique, always precise, vibrantly fresh and elegant wines with their German buoyancy have been available in the US for a few years now. Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate.
