Gelber Muskateller – Ried Steinriegl – Wohlmuth
The Wohlmuth Gelber Muskateller Ried Steinriegl 2021 is an elegant, fragrant, dry white wine from the Steinriegl vineyard site in Styria, Austria. Its vines grow on absolutely steep slopes planted in slate soils. Under the influence of the Illyrian climate, which brings warm winds from the Mediterranean and cool winds from the Alps to the north down to Kitzeck in Southern Styria, and through significant manual labor on the steep slopes—which requires an admirable sense of local connection—white wines with a distinctive, complex fruit expression are produced.
The Gelber Muskateller Steinriegl from the Wohlmuth estate is a wonderfully floral, enormously juicy representative of its grape variety. On the nose and palate, it reveals an aromatic spectrum of floral notes of elderflower and orange blossom, hints of yellow rose, yellow tropical fruit, pineapple, and lime, with delicate touches of mango, a hint of lychee honey, nutmeg, fine extract sweetness, and an ever-present note of fine slate spice, offering a wonderfully cool minerality, finesse, and precision. A great Muskateller with aging potential and a sophisticated arc of acidity. This showcases the brilliant interplay of grape variety, soil, vineyard site, and winemaking craftsmanship, which has a 200-year-old tradition at the Wohlmuths.
Gelber Muskateller – from the Steinriegl site
The vineyard site, or "Riede" as the Austrians call it, Steinriegl is one of the best sites in Southern Styria and has been mentioned in documents for centuries. It is an Erste STK Lage Südsteiermark DAC.
The vineyard is located at an altitude of 400-540m and is quite steep, with a gradient of 50-78%; the soils consist of Paleozoic slate. The upper part of the Ried Steinriegl faces south, while the lower part faces south-southwest. With the 2018 vintage, this special site, which yields multi-layered wines with pronounced minerality, was classified as an Erste STK Lage Südsteiermark DAC.
Due to the specific orientation, its high altitude, and openness toward the nearby Alps, this vineyard experiences particularly rapid and strong cooling in the evening, which leads to the intense development of aromas. The extremely barren, red, phyllitic slate soil gives the wines their own unique spicy character.
The grapes for this Wohlmuth Muskateller are harvested very late by selective hand-picking; a short period of skin contact and a very slow, gentle pressing, as well as temperature-controlled fermentation at approx. 20°C in stainless steel tanks, preserve fragrance and fruit. Subsequent battonage and 11 months of maturation on the fine lees in large used wooden barrels provide a full-bodied mouthfeel and fine creaminess.
The appealingly modern label is designed each year by a different young artist. For 2021, it is "Der Schwarm" (The Swarm) by Thomas Riess. An internationally active artist born in Tyrol in 1970 and now living in Vienna, Riess deals with humans and their perception of time and reality in a multimedia reality. A graduate of the graphic arts class at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg, he also finds his creative expression through drawing, collage, and video.
a single-vineyard wine and its values
- Origin Austria
- Region Southern Styria
- Site Ried Steinriegl
- Grape Variety Gelber Muskateller
- vegan
- 12% vol. alcohol
- 6.6 g/l acidity
- 1.1 g/l residual sugar