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Our next stop was at the historic Schloss Gobelsburg located in Austria's Kamptal wine producing region during the 2022 Austria-Hungary-Slovakia Expedition. Traveling through Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, you will frequently see the word Schloss, meaning “castle” in German. Driving up the hill leading to the archway entrance of Schloss Gobelsburg, we couldn't help but stop and capture this beautiful view! Our host for the morning, Stephan, started our wine experience with a historic overview of the estate. Production of the wine dates back to 1171, when the Stift Zwettl Abbey monks began cultivating the grapes in the immediate area surrounding the Schloss.
The original building predates grape cultivation by one hundred years, with ownership passing to many noble families throughout the years until the Stift Zwettl Abbey purchased the Schloss in 1740. For the next 250 years, the monks produced wine within Schloss Gobelsburg. Management of the castle and the vineyards eventually transitioned to Eva and Michael Moosbrugger in 1996, and they focus on preserving the cultural heritage dating back to the 12th century while prescribing to the organic and biodiverse agriculture techniques used by the monks since the beginning.
After the historic overview, Stephan continued our wine experience with the tasting of 22 wines representing the Schloss Gobelsburg rage of wines. Yes, 22 wines! As mentioned in our previous posts, when tasting such an expansive line-up, it is so important to leverage the spittoon or else someone will be carrying you out! In the tasting room, Stephan began the tasting with white Grüner Veltliner wines then proceeded to the Rieslings, a couple sparkling wines, then onto the reds.
He leveraged the maps on the bar to illustrate the origin of the wines, then led us outside through the tasting room's back door to get a first-hand view of the two vineyard hilltops Heiligenstein and Gaisberg, along with the saddle point, called Grub, in between. Reaching back to my U.S. Army Infantry days, the saddle is the lowest point between two adjacent hilltops. When Stephan presented the wines from these three areas, he lined-up the wine bottles like how the vineyards would be situated if looking at the range of hills with the Grub in-between. This presentation tactic was extremely helpful in visualizing the geography of the vineyards where the wines originated from.
Our favorite wine from the line-up was the 2020 Ried Steinsetz Grüner Veltliner, a white wine produced with Austria’s most cultivated grape varietal, Grüner Veltliner. The vineyard (Ried), Steinsetz, is located just south of Schloss Gobelsburg. Thanks to the extremely fun and interesting Austrianvineyards.com that Stephan introduced to us, you can see the exact vineyard here. By zooming in, the page transitions to an interactive, overhead satellite image of the vineyard. You can see the nearby Schloss Gobelsburg just north. We love maps at 500 Wineries! The soil of this vineyard consists of gravel and sand, and thus the it is extremely well-draining when it rains. The grape vines must reach deeper into the ground for water and nutrients, resulting in a more concentrated and complex wine. We really appreciated the intense bouquet of peach, pear, and lemon aromas. According to Stephan, the wine was matured for a short period in 2,500 liter oak barrels, which contributed to the wine's full body.
500 Wineries sends a tremendous THANK YOU to Stephan for the wonderful tasting experience at Schloss Gobelsburg, ranking within the Top 25% of all wineries visited to date!!! We left with a notebook full of historical facts and tasting notes, and we’ll definitely return. If you are traveling in Austria, we highly recommend the detour to visit Schloss Gobelsburg!
Please check out the YouTube Video of our visit here!
Experience Rating: 4 Stars
Brodi's Rating: 2 Paws Up
Website: https://www.gobelsburg.at/
Pet-Friendly: Yes
Experience Vibe: Standing Bar Tasting. On Friday and Saturday afternoons, they host a special Cellar Tour & Wine Tasting by appointment only.
Reservations Needed: Yes
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