Bäuerl, “Stein am Rain” Grüner Veltliner Federspiel
Wachau, Austria 2018 (750mL)
Regular price$29.00
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Bäuerl, “Stein am Rain” Grüner Veltliner Federspiel
Bäuerl is a label that’s mostly limited to Wachau insiders and locals within his home village of Joching, and if you spend a few minutes reading on, you’ll quickly understand just how much of a mystery Johann Bäuerl is. He is a true-blue farmer, a man that gives his full, undivided attention to the vines instead of the spotlight. And aside from hiring a few extra hands come harvest, this is largely a one-man operation toiling in complete obscurity.
Truly, only a few ever see these wines out in the wild and if you’re hoping the internet will help shed some more light, think again—there’s hardly anything to be found, and his website is a single page that simply lists his small lineup of wines. All this means that there is no glitz and glamour to interrupt his concentration: Johann devotes his entire mindset to crafting wines with breathtaking authenticity and incredible value. So make no mistake about Bäuerl’s obscurity—if you want pure, wholeheartedly genuine Wachau Grüner with little-to-no exposure on the global market, this is going to be one of your most exciting wine discoveries of 2020!
Truly, only a few ever see these wines out in the wild and if you’re hoping the internet will help shed some more light, think again—there’s hardly anything to be found, and his website is a single page that simply lists his small lineup of wines. All this means that there is no glitz and glamour to interrupt his concentration: Johann devotes his entire mindset to crafting wines with breathtaking authenticity and incredible value. So make no mistake about Bäuerl’s obscurity—if you want pure, wholeheartedly genuine Wachau Grüner with little-to-no exposure on the global market, this is going to be one of your most exciting wine discoveries of 2020!
“We endlessly roam, like truffle hogs, to bring you hidden gems from the Wachau.” These are words from Johann Bäuerl’s equally small importer, Kelly Stockton, and in colorful detail below, we recount his first experience with Herr Bäuerl several years ago.
So there I was, walking parallel to the Danube. Couldn’t have been more lost. Part of me was beginning to think this place didn’t exist. My map app was kaput and I didn’t know whether to be looking for a grandiose winery or a thatched hut. I was only equipped with an address on a scrap of paper as I walked away from the tiny town center of Joching. The slow-flowing Danube to my right, a tangled sea of vines to my left. The road was narrow—not even wide enough for two cars—and a passing Kastenwagen nearly bullied me off the shoulder. I was close to throwing in the towel, but I marched onward a few hundred yards and stumbled upon a wooden sign that led me to an unassuming rural home. I rapped the door and a jocund motherly figure emerged. She welcomed me inside with a grin wider than the Danube and led me through their kitchen. We exited into the backyard and entered what can only be described as a small structure…
And there he was, tinkering with wine equipment. I’ll never forget shaking his gnarled hand. It felt like grabbing raw leather or a sturdy piece of petrified wood—a hand that could only come from a lifetime of manual labor. His English was rudimentary at best, but no words were needed to confirm that he was a true-blue farmer. Though communication was mostly through gestures, I felt as if I learned more in a day than what two native speakers could in a week. From vineyard to bottling, excluding harvest or a task that physically requires more than one body, he does everything himself. A literal one-man show. Johann’s life, his entire world, is single-handedly bottling wines of pure elegance and expression. His only agenda is passionate winemaking, and for those who cherish wine, that’s ultimately what it’s all about.
Johann owns a handful of tiny neighboring plots in close proximity to his homestead and farms them according to the sustainability parameters outlined by the Wachau’s unique producers’ association, Vinea Wachau, which also created the well-known designations “Steinfeder,” “Federspiel,” and “Smaragd” to classify wines. Today’s bottle is a “Federspiel,” which, by definition, is a slightly richer, riper wine that reaches between 11.5% and 12.5% alcohol by volume. He considers “Stein am Rain” to be one of his top two vineyard sites, so he farms it with extreme attention to detail and harvests each cluster by hand.
After fermenting and raising the wine in stainless steel (and perhaps in a few old foudres that are laying around) for several months, the wine is bottled in order to retain maximum freshness and precision. Grüner from the Wachau is always a thing of beauty, but the many I’ve tried from 2018 seem to reach new heights: Bäuerl’s is indescribably refreshing with ample body and supple textures that ooze out citrus zest, yellow and green apple skin, Anjou pear, underripe mango, melon peel, watermelon radish, crushed stones, and soft spicy undertones. It’s brightly layered and zippy, creating a mouth-watering rush of fruit and spice that vibrate your tastebuds. Keep service temperature around 50 degrees and expect one bottle to go very quickly. Mine was depleted inside of an hour. Cheers!