This 550-year-old winery has been owned by the city of Krems since 1452, and all 106 acres of its vineyards fall within the city limits. It’s been run since 2003 by Fritz Miesbauer, who’d first made a name for himself by turning around Freie Weingärtner Wachau (now Domäne Wachau). He’s done the same at Stadt Krems, renovating the winery as well as its terraced vineyards. This wine comes from one of the winery’s most esteemed parcels in a vineyard called Grillenpartz, or ‘cricket party,’ an allusion, apparently, to its popularity with heat- and sun-seeking crickets. A south-facing hillside of gneiss, mica-schist and calcareous stone close to the border with Wachau, it’s classified as an Erste Lage, the local equivalent of premier cru. It grew a wine in 2020 that’s both delicate and substantial, with sweet pear flavors bolstered by herbal spice and a mouthwatering sense of salty minerality that lasts, urging another sip. It all comes together in a melodious whole, welcoming now but well worth aging in the cellar for a few years to see what else is to come.
96
Stadt Krems 2020 Kremstal Ried Grillenpartz Riesling
$45
Every week, our editors highlight a wine that intrigued them in our blind panel tastings, expanding on their tasting note in this space. These are entirely editorial choices; there are no paid placements. Subscribers can also access the original tasting note by searching here.
is W&S’s editor at large and covers the wines of the Mediterranean and Central and Eastern Europe for the magazine.
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