Rainer Wess > Wachau

The Wachau region is located in the Danube Valley, west of Vienna. It is one of the oldest and most unique wine regions of Europe. Stone terraces, rising up from the Danube into the region’s ancient, fortified hills, typify the landscape. The narrow Wachau Valley is only 20 miles long, and its wine-growing district covers only half of the area. It is the westernmost – and therefore the highest and coolest – wine region of Austria. By tradition, Grüner Veltliner and Riesling vines are cultivated on the same soils across the vineyards. The Benedictine monastery at Melk is the gateway to the Wachau region to the west. To the east, the 1000-year-old town of Krems marks the limit of the region.

Rainer Wess founded his own winery in 2003 after many years of diverse experience in the wine trade in both his native Austria and internationally. Rainer’s goal was to produce Grüner Veltliner and Riesling wines that would not only be among the best of the region, but also express his very personal style and philosophy. He aims to produce the purest, freshest and most elegant wines possible, with clear expressions of the varietal and site. In 2010, Wess moved his operations to Krems where he renovated a 300-year-old building that once was the wine cellar of a monastery. His 2010 vintage was the first to be vinified in the new gravity-feed winery. With the 2011 vintage, Wess has expanded his collection by introducing new wines from Kremstal vineyards near his winery.

Throughout the growing season, cool air descends from the top of the Wachau and Kremstal slopes. This moderates the warmth at the bottom of the slope which is further enhanced by sunlight reflecting off the Danube. The interplay of temperatures adds complexity to the wines. Wess farms his vineyards sustainably, to create a healthy natural ambiance for the vines. “In the end,” Rainer explains, “my main goal is ripe and healthy fruit which can have extended hang-time on the vine.” As harvest approaches, usually by early October and running through November, Wess ensures that the grapes have an optimal balance of physiological ripeness and acidity, with no botrytis. The fruit is picked by hand and brought to the winery in small plastic crates. Wess vinifies in small batches to ensure full control over the process and the full, individual expression of each varietal and site.

Skin maceration occurs over the several hours during which the press is filled. The clusters are very gently pressed in their intact state using a pneumatic press. This procedure ensures that the grapes are protected from oxidization and the juice is as pure as possible before the start of fermentation, without any extraction of green flavors from the stems. After pressing, the juice is allowed to clarify naturally in 300 litre stainless steel fermentation tanks. The alcoholic fermentation process begins within a day (or later, towards the end of the harvest period when then the temperature has dropped). Wess ferments at between 18 – 22 degrees centigrade to ensure elegance and depth of aroma and flavor. Fermentation can run from 10 days to 2 months, depending on factors including the vintage, ambient temperature, and the particular wine being made. When the alcoholic fermentation is complete, Wess racks the wine off its gross lees; this is the only racking that is performed. He then allows the wines to rest on their fine lees – thereby enhancing their complexity and richness -- until bottling in the Spring after harvest. The wines are vegan.

Rainer Wess offers three distinct levels of wines:
For his Grüner Veltliner, Rainer Wess uses fruit from two areas: the 5 hectare vineyard next to his winery in Krems and from several lower-slope sites in the Wachau towns of Unterloiben and Dürnstein. The warmer soils of these vineyards, composed of loam and silt (aka loess), gives a round, bright and juicy style of Grüner that is the perfect introduction to the Wess style. It is aged in tank and bottled and released in January. The grapes for the Wachauer Riesling originate only from flatter sites in the Wachau towns of Unterloiben and Dürnstein which ripen early. The gravelly, alluvial soil is covered with layers of loess. These factors account for the aromatic, vivid, energetic and forward character of the Wachauer Riesling. It is aged in tank and bottled and released in March. Both first level Wess wines have generous “cool” and fresh fruit in their bouquets and expressive citrus, stone fruits and minerals on the palate.

After moving into his new winery and cellar in Krems in 2010, Rainer Wess began to acquire new vineyards around the towns of Krems and Stein. Today, he owns or rents 7 hectares of old vines on the south facing slopes of this region. Wess has created new Kremstal Gruner Veltiner and Riesling wines from these sites which he calls “Stein und Krems.”

Rainer Wess Website

Grüner Veltliner

For his Grüner Veltliner, Rainer Wess uses fruit from two areas: the 5 hectare vineyard next to his winery in Krems and from several lower-slope sites in the Wachau towns of Unterloiben and Dürnstein. The warmer soils of these vineyards, composed of loam and silt (aka loess), gives a round, bright and juicy style of Grüner that is the perfect introduction to the Wess style. It is aged in tank and bottled and released in January. 12% Alcohol.

Gruner Veltliner Krems

After moving into his new winery and cellar in Krems in 2010, Rainer Wess began to acquire new vineyards around the towns of Krems and Stein. Today, he owns or rents 7 hectares of old vines on the south-facing slopes of this region. The Krems is made from 4 hectares of 55 to 70 year old vines grown on loess, stony, gravel soils. The exposition and soil type impart richness and structure to the wine. The winemaking is the same as for Wess’s single vineyard bottlings: meticulous selection of grapes to ensure that only perfect fruit, without any trace of botrytis, is vinified; long and slow alcoholic fermentation which is not rushed to finish; no malolactic fermentation; and 6 months of aging in tank on the wines’ fine lees. The wine is bottled in April. It has superb focus, verve and expressive, mineral inflected fruit, in the Wess signature style. In a normal harvest year, Wess will be able to bottle about 1000 cases of this cuvée.

Grüner Veltliner Loibenberg

The Loibenberg is one of the "great" wine districts of the Wachau. Wines from the Loibenberg vineyard have a distinct personality and character due to the combination of a cool microclimate and long hang time before harvest. The vineyard reaches up to 450 meters of altitude and has an ideal south to southeast exposure. The vines are planted on weathered, poor soil with layers of loess and clay and .sedimented primary rocks with, above all, gneiss of Gföhl as dominating rock. This soil together with the sometimes steep terraces facing south produce wines with "personality" and character. The Loibenberg wines display refined fruit, intense mineral structure, and powerful body. Their overall character can be summed up in one word – density.

Parker: “ smells alluringly and site-typically of white peach, white pepper, snap pea, and iris. Silken in texture and with admirable richness, this refined Veltliner finishes with piquant, bitter, sizzling accents of toasted nuts, peach kernel and white pepper.”

Grüner Veltliner Weinzierlberg

This cuvée is from a very old and well known vineyard in Krems, from which Rainer Wess acquired a parcel in 2013. He now cultivates just under one half a hectare of un-grafted, 60 year old Gruner Veltliner vines in the Weinzierlberg. The site is located between the town of Krems and the Wess winery.
The top soil is pure sand; that is how vines could survive ungrafted (wurzelecht). Geologically, it is the easternmost “Wachau” site because it’s the first cru in Krems which has Gneiss as its subsoil. Other Krems vineyards to the east have a gravel, slate or other soil type, but no primary rock. Due to the age of the vines and also because the vineyard is not irrigated, the roots penetrate deeply to the rocks and yields are lower than in other Krems vineyards.
The 2015 Weinzierlberg Gruner Veltliner was picked on October 23rd by hand. The grapes were healthy and fully ripe. After maceration with the stems (cold soak) over 10 hours, the grapes were gently pressed and fermented in a 1200 liter acacia and oak wood cask. The wine was aged on its fine lees for 8 months before bottling, about one half in the wood cask, and half in a stainless steel tank. Wess bottled 125 cases in June, 2016.
The combination of two soil types – sand over primary rock – and the low-yielding old Gruner Veltliner vines give this wine a silky texture and expressively generous fruit (from the sand) underpinned by structure and minerality (from the Gneiss subsoil).

Grüner Veltliner Wachauer

The grapes for the Wachauer wines originate from flat sites in the towns of Unterloiben and Dürnstein. Here the alluvial soil is covered with some loess (windblown silt, clay and sand) layers. The grapes ripen early and are the first to be picked. These factors account for the aromatic, zesty, forward and uncomplicated character of Wachauer Grüner Veltliner and Rieslings. The wines have ample "cool" fruit in their bouquets and expressive citrus and stone fruits and minerals on the palate. The finishes are long and crisp. They are bottled in January and represent superb value.

Riesling Wachauer

The grapes for the Wachauer Riesling originate only from flatter sites in the Wachau towns of Unterloiben and Dürnstein which ripen early. The gravelly, alluvial soil is covered with layers of loess. These factors account for the aromatic, vivid, energetic and forward character of the Wachauer Riesling. It is aged in tank and bottled and released in March. Both first level Wess wines have generous “cool” and fresh fruit in their bouquets and expressive citrus, stone fruits and minerals on the palate.

Riesling Pfaffenberg

Subtlety and strong elegance are the features of this wine. In its early times rather occlusive, this wine will show its true greatness in a few months time only. Even after a few years of storage it will prove its great potential.

Some of the grapes for Wess’s Pfaffenberg wines come from plantings located in Kremstal, even though they are situated right next to Loibenberg. The rest are from Wachau vineyards that almost reach the Danube. The peak altitude is 550 meters high. The soils are mostly sandy clay with underlying primary gneiss rock. The warm, south-east exposition provide the wines with enough fruit to make them accessible, but Pfaffenberg's steeply terraced rocky plantings dominate the wine. The Pffafenberg Gruners and Rieslings are refined, pure and elegant, and very long, with vivid minerality underpinning the citrus and white peach fruit. They benefit from a year or two of aging with the potential to develop over the next 5 to 10 years.

Riesling Achleiten

The grand-cru-like Achleiten vineyard is located on a steep hillside on the western end of the Wachau region, on the Northern bank of the Danube. Viticulture here dates back to the 12th century. Its superb micro-climate is created by the rocky soil, the vineyard’s ideal south-east exposure and the sunlight-reflecting Danube river. The hallmark of Wachau – the interplay between cooling winds and heat reflected from the river – reaches its pinnacle in the Achleiten, where some of the area’s richest and most intense wines are produced. The soil is primarily granite, with some schist, which adds a counterbalancing mineral lift to the wine’s body. Rainer Wess vinifies a parcel of 50 year old Riesling vines planted in the exact middle of the Achleiten site, (that is, in its warmest and best drained part) that give him about 60 cases yearly. It is made from 100% healthty (ie, non botrytised) fruit and aged in stainless steel on its lees until bottling in June without malolactic fermentation.