Riesling Ried Seeberg, an excellent Erste Lage
The 2016 Riesling Ried Seeberg by Fred Loimer is a dry organic white wine from the Erste Lage Seeberg in the Kamptal region. Sophisticated, mineral-driven, and with great staying power – a multi-award-winning vineyard Riesling that is showing its maturity right now.
Riesling Ried Seeberg 2016 is the award-winning single-vineyard Riesling from the Fred Loimer winery in Langenlois. Grown on the silvery, shimmering mica schist of the Ried Seeberg, an ÖTW Erste Lage. Tension, length, and aging potential until 2036 – a Riesling that expresses its origins as clearly as only this grape variety can.
Spicy peach notes, subtle and sophisticated
On the nose, the Riesling is spicy and restrained, with fine notes of peach and apricot – nothing is pushy; everything feels sophisticated and calm.
On the palate, it creates the arc one expects from a Riesling of this site: pleasantly vibrant acidity, piquant and fruity, wonderfully full yet slender. With 6.6 g/l of acidity and 3 g/l of residual sugar, it remains taut. Compelling length – a great wine.
We serve it with trout
Its spice and lively acidity make the Seeberg a companion for richer fish and spiced cuisine.
Fatty fish like trout or char suit it just as well as spicy Asian cuisine with ginger and lemongrass. Serve at 10 to 12 degrees, decanted half an hour beforehand to let it open up. Among the dry white wines, it is one of the greats.
65-year-old vines on mica schist
Ried Seeberg is a south and southwest-facing Erste Lage at an altitude of around 300 meters. Silvery, shimmering mica schist with inclusions of amphibolite reaches the surface here, topped with silty-sandy, lime-free rocky brown earth.
The vines, up to 65 years old, are cultivated biodynamically, with a low yield of 35 hectoliters per hectare. After up to 24 hours of maceration on the skins, the must ferments spontaneously, half in steel and half in used oak barrels, slowly at a maximum of 22 degrees.
It matures for six months on the full lees in wood and another four months on the fine lees in steel before being bottled in September 2017 – a vinification process that gives the 2016 its depth.
95 points and a Trophy win
The 2016 Seeberg has been an international success: 95 points from Wine Enthusiast, 94 from Falstaff, 93 from Wine Advocate, plus a Trophy win at wein.pur.
James Suckling included it in his Top 100 Austrian Wines 2017, and A la Carte listed it as a Grand Cru Riesling. Fred Loimer farms the vineyards biodynamically, and Riesling is his secret passion – you can taste it. Impressive. You can find more from the winery among other wines from the Fred Loimer winery, such as the matured Riesling Steinmassl Reserve.
Too cold, the spice remains locked away
Give the 2016 some air; a carafe does it good. Serve at 10 to 12 degrees, not too cold, otherwise the spice remains locked away. At 13% vol, it has substance and is currently in the middle of its maturation window, which lasts until about 2036. So it has plenty of time.
Riesling Seeberg – a wine and its values
- Origin: Wine from Austria
- Region: Kamptal
- Site: Ried Seeberg, Erste Lage (ÖTW)
- Grape variety: Riesling
- 13.0% vol. alcohol
- 6.6 g/l acidity
- 3.0 g/l residual sugar
- 97 mg/l total SO2
- vegan
Organic control number AT-BIO-402 – Austrian Agriculture