This is a certifiably addicting white with layers of vibrancy and depth typically reserved for big-ticket labels—the majority of which churn out more wine and are less terroir-specific. Today’s wine from Richard Walzer is meant in the most literal sense: Richard is essentially a one-man show here, along with some occasional help from his family and friends in the vineyard. Rare is the chance to experience a limited wine from a team that can be counted on one hand. Even rarer is the opportunity to experience it at such an absurdly low price. That’s the beauty of legitimate artisanal labels: They don’t have any marketing to cover up a flaw so every wine they bottle must be pristine and ready-to-impress. I guarantee once you taste this Grüner Veltliner and factor in the price, Richard Walzer will not only earn your stamp of approval, it will become a staple of your white wine diet.

Richard comes from a vintner background, but decided to branch out and start his own label just 15 years ago. At the time, the winery was founded with barely an acre to its name, but, throwing all caution to the wind, he kept plugging away and expanding bit by bit. A new winery was built after 10 years of hard work, and today, he has proudly built up his vineyard ownership to 10 acres—still a drop in the bucket compared to most of his competition. His weingut is located in Gneixendorf, an outlying village just a couple miles north of Krems proper and his parcel in “Wolfsgraben” is a half mile from his front door. 

 

Richard is defiant about making sure his wines are only from estate-owned vines, so you can guarantee every grape in your bottle was carefully monitored and handled by the man himself and the few family members who work alongside him. Today’s Grüner Veltliner comes from his small parcel within the “Wolfsgraben” vineyard, a south/southeast-facing vineyard buried in classic loess soil (a wind-blown sedimentary soil with lots of calcium carbonate) at an elevation of 1,000 feet. His vines are farmed sustainably and grapes are always hand picked. In the winery, fermentation and aging on fine lees occurs in stainless steel and the wine is lightly filtered before bottling. This wine carries the all-encompassing ‘Niederösterreich’ designation instead of ‘Kremstal’ simply due to the time of its bottling and, though not stated on the label, it is essentially made in a ‘Federspiel’ style. 

Now with an additional year of aging in bottle, Walzer’s importer described his 2016 “Wolfsgraben” the best: “Generous in flavour, but polished.” As Grüner lovers know, this famously mineral, acid-driven white is capable of great depth and viscosity, and this bottle certainly checks off all the markers. It shines a translucent straw yellow throughout with brilliant flashes of platinum and the nose offers a simultaneously creamy and energetic mix of fruits and minerality. Lime blossoms, snap pea, green apple peel, Meyer lemon, white peach skin, and crushed rocks present themselves in waves and the soft, medium-bodied palate confirms all these notes along with a tingling sensation of pepper and arugula on the finish. I couldn’t stop licking my lips from the immense freshness and supple fruits that populate this wine from start to finish. Consume this over the next couple of years and serve around 45-50 degrees in all-purpose white stems. Having traveled in Austrian wine country many times, I taste this wine and I’m immediately transported to a Viennese heuriger, an outdoor tavern set amongst vineyards that’s sort of the wine equivalent of a biergarten. To sit at a picnic table drinking wine like this and eating a plate of weisswurst is an experience every wine lover should have, but your back porch will work just fine in the meantime!