From perhaps the most “traditional” – dry, clean (no botrytis) and and definitely “most flavor with least apparent weight and alcohol” – producer in the Wachau. Except what’s traditional elsewhere is actually progressive here. Even most top producers (Pichler, Hirtzberger) make much heavier, sweeter and higher alcohol wines than Tegernseerhof.
A 1000-year-old estate run with incredible brilliance, dedication and progressive/traditional insights and values by the young superstar Martin Mittlebach. These are rare wines that earn great press – when the press gets to see them – but with more beauty than bluster.
Pinot Noir is exceptionally rare in the Wachau, and Mittlebach’s small Pinot vineyard is in perfect limestone soil (also rare here, and with old vines, too) high above the famed Steinriegel. The yields are tiny in this steep, barren vineyard – and even by Mittlebach’s standards, this packs incredible flavor into its lean, lithe and low alcohol (12.5%) frame.
