This small winery is located in the heart of the Kamptal area in the village of Zöbing. Georg Leindl has been in the wine industry for nearly 30 years. After studying food and biotechnology, he went on to be a researcher at the Federal College for Oenology and Pomology at Klosterneuburg. He has also been a oenology consultant, and has worked with and rented space from Austria’s Martin Nigl.
In 2013, he decided to create his own estate in Kamptal, and Weingut Leindl was born. He began with 5 hectares of vines and has recently increased his acreage to 12 hectares. The main focus of the winery is the regional varieties of Grüner Veltliner and Riesling. From these two varieties an array of wines from light, fresh-fruity to single vineyard and reserve wines are vinified. Gelber Muskateller and Viognier complete the range.
THE VINEYARDS
Typical of the 200 to 300 meters high Kamptal are hot days and cool nights in Summer, as well as long sunny Fall periods. These contrasting conditions give the Kamptal wines their incomparable, crystal-clear, mineral character.
Basically, the Kamptal is characterized by the contrast of the funnel-like warming Pannonian influences from the south-east and the cold winds of the Waldviertel coming from the north-west. These contrasts ensure cool nights even after hot days, which is responsible for the particularly fine flavoring of the wines. The long vegetation period in the Kamptal up to late Fall gives the grapes a chance to reach their physiological maturity. In the north the Kamptal is protected from cold spells by the high plateau of the Waldviertel and in the north-east by the Manhartsberg.
The geological conditions in the Kamptal could hardly be more varied: on the one hand the rocks of the Bohemian mass coming in from the west – mainly Gföhler gneiss and glittery schists – but also primary rock, some of it only covered with a thin layer of humus. Like the extremely rare, weathered Wüstensandstein from the Perm, which dominates the heart of the Heiligenstein, they are ideal partners for high-class Rieslings and Grüner Veltliner.
Grüner Veltliner comes from the Seeberg vineyard, and Riesling from the famed Heiligenstein vineyard.
Seeberg
A south-southwest facing location at about 300 m above sea level. The silvery glittering mica slate with inclusions of amphibolite reaches up to the surface. This is followed by silty-sandy weathered soils, mostly lime-free brown rock soils. The special tension between hot days and cool nights allows the grapes to ripen slowly and produce a high degree of fruitiness in the wines. Particularly complex Grüner Veltliner thrive here.
Heiligenstein
Located about an hour west of Vienna in Kamptal, this hillside vineyard was first mentioned in the Zwettl abbey register of 1280 as “Hellenstein”, or hell stone, because it was a mountain on which the sun “burns like hell”. It was later renamed Heiligenstein, or “holy rock”. The Heiligenstein is a unique geological formation – a geological island – within Europe, dating to the Permian period some 250 to 270 million years ago, comprising an extrusion of desert sandstone with volcanic and carboniferous conglomerates. Vines are 15-35 years old, and Leindl’s total production is around 6,000 9-liter cases.
The Heiligenstein with its reddish, weathered desert sandstone and the conglomerates of volcanic components is one of the best Riesling sites in the growing region. Between the vineyards there is a flora and fauna that is otherwise only found in much more southern Mediterranean areas. On the terraces, the Riesling thrives in its particularly finely aromatic form. The hard bedrock releases the site-specific minerals into the grape and creates terroir-specific wines. The shell-shaped basin, which is open to the south, forms a special microclimate that enhances the fruity aromas that are typical of the Riesling variety.
