Austere, elegant, and compact. This is how the Austrian winery Alzinger defines the riesling grape that gives rise to Alzinger Riesling Dürnsteiner Federspiel 2023. The varietal characteristics, along with the peculiarities of the Wachau terroir, which produces wines with delicate, spicy, and smoky notes, culminate in a splendid white wine, crystalline and vibrant, with herbal, citrus, and fresh stone fruit notes, a juicy yet substantial texture, and an acidic touch that invites another sip. Enjoy now or keep for up to three years.
Ripened using artisanal cultivation techniques, the grapes used to produce the white wine Alzinger Riesling Dürnsteiner Federspiel 2023 come from the flatter areas around the town of Dürnstein, as well as from some plots of young vineyards planted on terraces, on clay soils formed by gneiss, granite, and schist.
The steep incline of the terraces makes mechanized work impossible, so the harvest is carried out manually. Once in the winery, the grapes are pressed and macerated. The resulting must is left to settle for an entire day, and then it is vinified with selected yeasts at a controlled temperature. It is clarified, filtered, and bottled for commercialization.
This Alzinger Riesling Dürnsteiner Federspiel 2023, which showcases the greatest virtues of the queen variety of the Wachau Valley, pairs ideally with grilled vegetables, salads, baked white fish, fish-based rice dishes, or pasta with fish sauce.
Ripened using artisanal cultivation techniques, the grapes used to produce the white wine Alzinger Riesling Dürnsteiner Federspiel 2023 come from the flatter areas around the town of Dürnstein, as well as from some plots of young vineyards planted on terraces, on clay soils formed by gneiss, granite, and schist.
The steep incline of the terraces makes mechanized work impossible, so the harvest is carried out manually. Once in the winery, the grapes are pressed and macerated. The resulting must is left to settle for an entire day, and then it is vinified with selected yeasts at a controlled temperature. It is clarified, filtered, and bottled for commercialization.
This Alzinger Riesling Dürnsteiner Federspiel 2023, which showcases the greatest virtues of the queen variety of the Wachau Valley, pairs ideally with grilled vegetables, salads, baked white fish, fish-based rice dishes, or pasta with fish sauce.
Tasting notes
Pale yellow color, almost crystalline, clean and bright.
On the nose, it is straightforward, fruity, with fresh fruit, floral notes, and lychee.
On the palate, it is light, elegant, and has a crisp and juicy acidity.
Weingut Alzinger is one of the most prestigious family wineries in Austria and an absolute benchmark in the Wachau, a region declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The winery is located in Unterloiben, near Dürnstein, on the banks of the Danube, in one of Europe’s most unique and demanding wine-growing areas.
The modern history of the project began in the early 1980s, when Leo Alzinger decided to bottle his own wines for the first time. Until then, the Alzinger family sold their grapes to the local cooperative, but bottling under their own label allowed them to clearly express the identity of historic vineyards such as Loibenberg and Steinertal. From that moment on, the estate’s Grüner Veltliner and Riesling wines began to stand out for their precision, minerality and ageing potential.
Today, the winery is run by Leo Alzinger Jr. together with Katharina Alzinger-Kittel. Both continue a philosophy based on manual work in extremely steep vineyards, absolute respect for the natural environment and restrained, meticulous winemaking focused on fruit purity and terroir expression. Weingut Alzinger is a member of the Vinea Wachau Nobilis Districtus association and exclusively produces white wines under the traditional Federspiel and Smaragd categories.
The vineyard covers around 10 hectares of steep terraces, mainly planted with Grüner Veltliner and Riesling, on soils composed of gneiss, schist, loess and Danube sediments. The wines are characterised by a fresh, taut and elegant style, far from opulence, and are considered among Austria’s finest and longest-lived dry white wines.
