Barbara Ohlzelt - Gruner Veltliner "Leader" 2023 1L (12.5% ABV)

A liter of Gruner from a compelling under the radar winemaker. Barbara Öhlzelt is based in the village of Zobing (within the Kamptal region) producing lean, racy Gruner. Crunchy and crushable with green apple, lime zest, minerality, bright acidity.  this had my blind tasting group thinking it was Chablis! Try it and be amazed at the range Gruner can achieve in the right hands.

The Grüner Leader is from a combination of all of Barbara’s Grüner vineyards with an average vine age of 30 years. This includes fruit from some exemplary sites including 1er Cru Heiligenstein (sandstone), Seeburg (slate, sand, clay) and Kogelberg (granite, shale). 

More info from Vom Boden:

"Barbara Öhlzelt is turning the region’s paradigm completely on its head. Instead of the unctuous, powerful and masculine wines of the famous large estates, Barbara’s wines emphasize focus and a quiet, simmering intensity. They are fine, clearly delineated, precisely-etched renditions of Grüner Veltliner and Riesling with just as much depth and persistence as the big boys, but on a lighter, more refreshing frame. They really are like the wines of Weiser-Künstler, but translated into the dialect of the Kamptal – loess, granite and sandstone, rather than slate. It should go without saying, but of course the wines are loaded with mouth-watering acidity and the alcohol levels are carefully restrained. Barbara is soft-spoken but intense; the wines are not unlike their shepherd. These are racy, delicate wines of purity and energy, and are exactly what the next chapter in the story of Austrian wine should be."

region: Kamptal, Austria

varietal: Gruner Veltliner

style: crisp white

farming/cellar: No herbicides or chemicals are used on the soil (practicing organic). Hand picked. Fermented and vinified entirely in stainless steel.

pairing: oysters, picnic & the park, grilled shrimp kabobs