Rightfully, when we attend a wine event, the first thing we focus on is what we found in the glass. Whether it pleased us, intrigued us, or left us uncertain. But a wine event can be much more than that, and Falstaff knows this very well.
Indeed, the events organised by the Austrian magazine always feature a line-up of producers ranging from interesting to excellent, but that is only part of the story. There are also the Falstaff awards, which generally bring a certain good cheer to the room, the food stands, the music. In short, the wine is there – naturally – but so is much else besides.
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Given also the fierce heat that gripped Vienna on the day of the event, one cannot help but notice how organisers and producers alike brought not only resources but genuine goodwill to being present. And I believe the result justified the effort, because the event offered a rich yet clear panorama of Grüner Veltliner in Lower Austria in all its expressions. After all, this is the most widely planted variety in the country (covering 30% of the vineyard surface), and profiling it is less straightforward than one might imagine.
As always, we have formed a fairly clear picture of what struck us and we report it here.
The Producers at Falstaff Grüner Veltliner Festival 2026
Ludwig Ehn
I had met this producer at his winery, during the beautiful Kamptaler Weinfrühling 2023, a sort of open-cellar day for this DAC. My opinion of their wines has not changed radically: this is a solid producer, with some genuinely good quality peaks. Specifically, the Verdino Grüner Veltliner 2025 opens the range with the lightness of a label designed for carefree drinking: vegetal, direct, almost rustic in its simplicity, perfect for an aperitif that asks nothing of you (though here I found it was served a touch too cold – at certain temperatures even the simplest versions become unwieldy). The Langenlois Grüner Veltliner 2025 sits alongside it with fruit that veers more towards the tropical, the same immediacy but with a flash of white pepper to close the sip. These are bottles made for drinking, not for analysing, and they do their job without pretending to be anything else.
The Ried Panzaun Grüner Veltliner 2025 changes register: tauter, with a terroir that makes itself felt but which, I must say, is not the one that makes me lose my head. It remains interesting nonetheless, for the notes of verbena that surface – a detail the two entry-level wines lack.
The quality steps up with the reserves. The Ried Spiegel 1ÖTW Reserve Grüner Veltliner 2024, also served very cold, opens on an elegant and enveloping spice that borders on cinnamon. But it is the Titan Ried Spiegel 1ÖTW Reserve Grüner Veltliner 2020 that shows what this producer can do when it decides to mean business: the softest and most immediately pleasing of the range, with a dense texture and the same verbena note as the Panzaun, here however integrated into a more complex whole.
Markus Huber
I was very curious about this producer whose voice, even coming from the secondary Traisental, is making itself heard. The wines have significant prices, but the quality justifies them: three Grüner Veltliners presented, one good and two very good. Specifically, the Obere Steigen Grüner Veltliner 2025 opens the range with a vivid, almost nervous freshness, sustained by a peppery quality that extends well beyond the sip. The acidic backbone is elegant – the kind of verticality that holds a wine upright without making it seem unripe.
With the Reichersdorf Grüner Veltliner 2025 the pace changes: here you feel the old vines, their dense structure, and even a hint of honey that softens the picture. This is a wine that almost resists categorisation. Here too the acidic backbone remains elegant, but with more substance behind it.
The Berg Erste Lage Grüner Veltliner 2024 is the highest point of the three: significant structure, a finish that closes pure with notes of chalk, and a kaleidoscope of cedar and citrus that multiplies rather than exhausts itself. There is an artist’s hand here, the feeling of a producer who knows exactly where he wants to take the wine and gets there without a misstep.
Weingut Brüdlmayer
Brüdlmayer needs no introduction. This is one of the great names of the Kamptal, probably the most prestigious among those present at the event. We discussed them in our comparison between Grüner Veltliner and Riesling.
In the past I have bought wine from this producer and enjoyed it without being swept away. Today I think I would understand those bottles better – my purchase was perhaps premature relative to the mental catalogue I had at the time, and so, unable to draw on comparisons, I never fell fully in love with these wines. Probably today the story would be different, and on various occasions tastings of Brüdlmayer bottles have delighted me. The perspectives of youth do not always – in fact, rarely – survive the passage of time.
In any case, the stand was very busy and the producer’s representative most agreeable.
Specifically, the Grüner Veltliner Kamptal Terrassen 2025 is the archetype of the fresh-drinking Kamptal Grüner Veltliner: medium body, notes of apple, a full rather than vegetal fruit, already ready to drink. The effort in the cellar is apparent even at entry level.
The Langenloiser Alte Reben Grüner Veltliner 2024 raises the tone: rounder, juicier, with a spiciness the Terrassen lacks.
Then the category changes. The Ried Käferberg Grüner Veltliner 2023 is not yet ready: the orange peel typical of this parcel dominates, with a life inside that still needs to settle but promises something exceptional for the wealth of nuance it carries.
The Ried Spiegel 1ÖTW Vincent Grüner Veltliner 2023 is already there: round, exotic, immediately pleasing, but with an internal tension that prevents it from slipping into softness for its own sake. Mango and dry spices complete the picture.
The Ried Lamm Grüner Veltliner Kamptal 2023 closes the range as the tensest of all: steel-like verticality, floral, lime, with an acidic wave still unfinished – shy at first and then explosive. Like other wines from this producer it has a coiled structure, a compressed spring waiting only to be released.
Rabl
This producer did not bewitch me, partly because I perhaps expected more – instead I found two good wines and two very good ones, which is a fine result, but not quite what I expected from the Kamptal and from this name. The Grüner Veltliner Vom Löss 2025 opens with a hard, almost cutting acidity that hits you rather than guiding the sip: a simple Kamptal Grüner Veltliner without great pretensions. The Grüner Veltliner Langenlois 2025 stands alongside it with more fruit, freshly cut apple slices and an exotic hint, medium body and less angular than the previous.
With the Alte Reben the level should rise, and to some extent it does, but it brings a problem with it: oak. The Ried Dechant Alte Reben 2024 has a rather overblown use of barrel, to the point where the wine closes in the mouth rather than opening, even if exotic and peppery notes compensate in part. The same fault recurs in the Ried Käferberg Alte Reben 2024, where you can nonetheless recognise the vineyard’s signature – tobacco and citrus throughout, the life that Käferberg knows how to give. But knowing the potential of that site, it is hard not to feel somewhat disappointed by how much the oak covers it.
Steininger
Steininger is known primarily for its sparkling wines, but some of these are based on Grüner Veltliner, so their presence was not only enjoyable but also fitting. This is a solid Kamptal producer. The Langenlois Grüner Veltliner 2025 is tangy, a classic Grüner Veltliner without great surprises – the foundation on which the rest of the range is built.
The Ried Lamm 1ÖTW Grüner Veltliner 2024 should be the flagship wine, yet here the Lamm is rendered unremarkable: the floral and steel-and-white-stone notes that the vineyard promises are there, but the result is dull – an important cru treated without the ambition it deserves.
On the sparkling side, the Grüner Veltliner Sekt Reserve 2022 has a beautiful, very soft and dense mousse, almost a pillow in the mouth, but the aromas remain spare despite the full body: plenty of texture, little to say. The Grüner Veltliner Ried Steinhaus Grosse Reserve 2018 goes in the opposite direction – aromas it has in abundance, softness likewise, but the result is forced and excessive, intensely sweet-fruited to the point of slipping into a bitter finish that leaves the impression of a wine pushed beyond its natural equilibrium.
Bernhard Ott
I recently drank the Rosenberg from this cult producer, the Grüner Veltliner flagship not present here. I find it hard to fully grasp the exalted status he enjoys, I admit, but the quality is certainly there. That is clear even in the more accessible tier.
The Fass 4 2025 opens with the concentration and vivacity common to all the wines in the range: simple, clean, correct, balanced – the kind of bottle that does not try to astonish and for exactly that reason works. The Der Ott 2025 raises the bar slightly, playing more with apple and pear, a rounder and juicier fruit, closed by a white pepper that gives character to the finish.
The Ried Gmirk 2025 is the most powerful of the three, with a life inside that promises further development. And yet, here too, that distance you feel with this producer remains: plenty of technical quality, but not the infatuation that the name alone would seem to promise.
Grabenwerkstatt
With this Wachau producer I genuinely enjoyed myself: I had already encountered them at Pub Klemo and here they convinced me more than in other contexts. This is a winery that plays extensively with the conventional expectations of those seeking the Wachau – producers with a creative streak who deliver wines that are distinctive in their own right. Certainly intriguing and worth revisiting, because originality here is not the enemy of quality.
The Wachauwerk Grüner Veltliner 2025 is floral, unconventional like the other wines from these producers: many echoes, an acidity that bounces rather than running straight. The Grabenwerk Grüner Veltliner 2025 resembles it but is less defined – moderate complexity, light body, with notes of fresh bread that set it apart.
Then comes the Ried Schon 2025, and here the register changes entirely: pronounced petrol notes, very powerful, still unresolved but fascinating precisely for that, with a saline finish that closes out the wine’s complexity. The Ried Brandstatt 2025 completes the range with perhaps a touch too much volatile acidity, as though the cellar had pushed things slightly beyond their natural limit.
Jäger
Staying in the Wachau, Jäger, a producer from Weißenkirchen, offers classic answers to classic questions. No surprises and solid quality, starting with the Federspiel Klaus Grüner Veltliner 2025, floral as one expects from the Klaus, with a body that gives it substance.
On the Smaragd side the register becomes more powerful. The Smaragd Ried Achleiten Grüner Veltliner 2025 is peppery, very spiced, complete, but again without real surprises. The Smaragd Ried Achleiten Grüner Veltliner 2023 repeats the same pattern with a few extra degrees of power, perhaps the result of a warmer vintage than 2025.
Familie Schmelz
Staying on the theme of unsurprising Wachau, the wines of Familie Schmelz present themselves as classic from their marketing materials onward. Decent products, extremely traditional: starting with the Steinwand Federspiel Grüner Veltliner 2025, which is hard and green – the kind of profile that should belong to a basic Kamptal, not under a Federspiel label that promises immediate drinking, yes, but also softness. The Ried Klaus Federspiel Grüner Veltliner 2025 does not fare much better: it lacks definition, staying on notes of gooseberry and a sharp acidity without counterpoint.
With the Pichl Point Federspiel Grüner Veltliner 2025 the picture improves: fruity aromas and a softness that finally approaches what the category promises. The Pichl Point Smaragd Grüner Veltliner 2025 is practically identical – juicy, with notes of apricot adding a further touch.
The Ried Kollmitz Grüner Veltliner Smaragd 2025 finally finds the tension typical of this vineyard, that drive towards depth that the name Kollmitz carries with it. The range closes with the Best of Smaragd Grüner Veltliner 2025, so floral it almost recalls a Klaus, before veering into notes of detergent, fresh laundry: a blend of Smaragds that remains a strange idea, hard to justify when the producer already has vineyards capable of speaking for themselves.
Gritsch Mauritiushof
This producer took some time to reveal itself during the tastings. At first I found the wines reticent, shy. Then I understood that texture and a certain opulence were a stylistic hallmark rather than a limitation. The entire range was in this sense very coherent: the Axpoint Grüner Veltliner Federspiel 2025 opens in a style that is anything but immediate – very closed nose, barely expressive, almost irrelevant, before opening beautifully on the palate with flavours of apricot jam and candied orange. This is a wine that needs to be waited for, not judged on the first sip.
The Hochrain Grüner Veltliner Smaragd 2025 is somewhat more imprecise and undefined, but creamy and substantial like all Gritsch wines, with a finish of melted butter that confirms the winery’s stylistic signature. The Ried Klaus Grüner Veltliner Smaragd 2025 defies expectations for this cru: not the floral Klaus I know, but a more material version with notes of steel and wet stone, both on the nose and in the finish, with a medium-full body and a woven texture.
The Ried Loibenberg Grüner Veltliner Smaragd 2025 turns decisively tropical, whilst the Singerriedel Smaragd Grüner Veltliner 2025 closes the range in a very velvety fashion, with honey dominating the finish: the same opulence as the others, taken to its softest expression.
Kartäuserhof
Here too a Wachau without great surprises, but with a solid average quality: the Ried Klaus Grüner Veltliner 2025 opens floral, with a peach scent that promises softness, before proving somewhat hard in the mouth – as though nose and palate were telling two different stories. The Ried Achleiten Grüner Veltliner 2025 goes in the opposite direction, herbaceous and direct, without the same ambiguity.
The range closes with the Ultimo Smaragd Grüner Veltliner 2025, the most convincing wine in the line: rich and woven, with notes of beeswax and tea leaves that give it a depth the other two lack.
Leth
I finished with this Wagram producer, and here I had something of an epiphany: I had always considered this DAC almost a mistake, one name too many among the many excellent ones in Austria. Here perhaps I understood its value, because the producer offers very fruity, round wines with an acidity that holds over the long term. Perhaps this is precisely what defines the Wagram – forced to carve out a space between the Baroque of the Wachau and the precision of the Kamptal.
The Ried Schafflerberg Grüner Veltliner 2025 sets the tone immediately: plenty of fruit, less vertical than the Kamptal wines, with Gala apple dominating and an acidity completely wrapped in the fruit. The Ried Spiegel Grüner Veltliner 2024 veers towards straw-like references, a drier register that gently breaks the previous wine’s fruity line.
The Brunnthal Grüner Veltliner 2023 returns to a solid structure – juicy, medium body, the most middle-of-the-road wine in the range. The Ried Scheiben 1 ÖTW Grüner Veltliner 2023 closes as the best of the four: incredible length and spice, sustained by a soft texture that binds everything together.
In Conclusion
- Grüner Veltliner today does not have a single face: between the Kamptal, the Wachau, and the Wagram, three different grammars emerge – the taut and precise style of the Kamptal, the baroque and more opulent style of the Wachau, and the Wagram carving out an intermediate space, fruity but with an acidity that holds over the long term, as demonstrated by the wines of Leth.
- The surprises came from those who dared: Grabenwerkstatt showed that in the Wachau you can still play with expectations, with the Ried Schon capable of veering into petrol notes without losing elegance, whilst Leth upended a personal prejudice about an entire appellation.
- Not all established names lived up to their status: Rabl yielded too much to oak on both Alte Reben wines, Steininger rendered a cru like Lamm unremarkable, and Bernhard Ott remains technically impeccable without fully winning me over.
- Value for money must be judged case by case: Markus Huber is not cheap, but bottles like the Berg Erste Lage justify it fully, whilst other more affordable producers nonetheless put together coherent ranges without dips, like Gritsch Mauritiushof with its opulent texture.
- Despite the heat and the bustle of a crowded event, the overall picture remains positive: the average level is good, the dips are isolated and confined to individual bottles rather than entire producers, and this confirms Grüner Veltliner as the most reliable, as well as most widely planted, variety in Austrian wine.
Our Awards
- Best Producer: Weingut Brüdlmayer
- Best Wine: Ried Spiegel 1ÖTW Vincent Grüner Veltliner 2023 by Weingut Brüdlmayer
- Other Outstanding Wines: Ried Käferberg Grüner Veltliner 2023 and Ried Lamm Grüner Veltliner Kamptal 2023 both by Weingut Brüdlmayer
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