Wine & Spirits - Winter 2016 - 59

Johann Donabaum

F RANCE A LSACE

Domaine Weinbach

Founded: 1955
Owner/winemaker/viticulturist:
Johann Donabaum
Acres owned: 20
Annual production: 6,000 cases
Estate grown: 30%
Importer: Soilair Selection, NY
Website: weingut-donabaum.at

Johann Donabaum

TOP 100 WINERIES 2016

A USTRIA W ACHAU

Catherine Faller

Founded: 1612
Winemaker: Ghislain Berthiot
Viticulturist: Théo Leiber-Faller
Owners: Catherine and Théo Faller
Acres owned: 74
Annual production: 10,500 cases
Estate grown: 100%
Importer: Vineyard Brands,
Birmingham, AL
Website: domaineweinbach.com

A rising star at the western end of the Wachau, Johann Donabaum translates
the region's cool climes into intense whites with kinetic energy.

Domaine Weinbach's grand cru vineyards produced exceptional wines in the
challenging 2013 vintage, earning the Faller family their fifth Top 100 award.

On the Edge: Spitz is about as far west as the major vinelands of the
Wachau reach, as the temperatures fall and the topsoil thins out.
The Donabaums have been growing grapes here for several generations, but it wasn't until 1996, after Johann Donabaum apprenticed
with Wachau winemaker F.X. Pichler, that the family began selling
wine on a commercial basis. Donabaum began growing the estate's
holdings from 8 acres to the current 20, vinifying plots individually,
with spontaneous fermentations and stainless steel tanks, his goal
to reveal terroir differences. Today some of his best single-vineyard
wines come from the Spitzer Graben, a steep side valley. The area is
highly regarded for vineyards like the slatey, marble-filled Offenberg,
where Donabaum grew a savory 2013 Riesling, its brothy umami
character building in textural fullness without adding weight.

An Ancient Wine Brook: The first records of vineyards at what is now
Domaine Weinbach date to 890. The winery came later, in 1612,
established by Capucin monks, who named it "wine brook," after a
small stream on the edge of the property. Théo Faller, whose father
and uncle purchased the estate in 1898, built its reputation while
working to develop a grand cru system for Alsace; his widow, Colette,
and her daughters, Catherine and Laurence, solidified that reputation with careful work in the vineyards-half of which are grand cru
sites- moving them toward biodynamics in 2005.

Grüner Power: Grüner veltliner makes up 60 percent of Donabaum's
plantings, all of his vines more than 50 years old, and many in celebrated areas. Kirchweg, for example, is one of the Wachau's oldest
recorded sites, with written mentions dating to 1256. The deep, gravelly loess here grew an exotic veltliner in 2013, creamy with a
gingery spice. Donabaum considers Spitzer Point his finest
site, where 58-year-old vines grow on paragneiss. The 2013 is
austere, with smoky minerality and a pear-skin grip.
Limited Editions: The 2006 vintage was spectacular, the
grapes superripe with no botrytis in sight. Donabaum
decided to produce a super-Smaragd, made with fruit left
to hang into November. Called Limitierte Edition, he's
repeated the project in 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015. The
2013s are in current release and they are well worth seeking out. Fermented spontaneously in stainless steel after
18 hours on the skins, then racked into small Austrian
oak barrels to age on the fine lees for nine to ten months,
both the riesling and grüner veltliner versions are bodacious and sultry, with an acidity that shivers with energy.
Both offer a vivid show of the power and potential of
wines grown at the cool end of the Wachau. -T.Q.T.

TOP-SCORING WINES

The Clos des Capucins: Weinbach's vineyards are focused in the grand
cru Schlossberg, a steep slope rising to 1,400 feet in altitude. Toward
the bottom of the slope, where the gravelly alluvial soils reflect
warmth and promote early ripening, the Fallers farm the Clos des
Capucins, a 12-acre vineyard that surrounds the winery. They label
its richest wines Cuvée Ste-Catherine, named for Catherine Faller
and Saint Catherine's Day (November 25th), when these late-harvest
wines are often picked. In 2014, the Cuvée Ste-Catherine
pinot gris is opulent, brimming with orange and ripe pear
fruit, warmed with spice and smoky notes.
Great Gewurz: Two of Weinbach's top performing wines this
year are gewurztraminers. One comes from Altenbourg,
a lieu-dit just below the Furstentum grand cru, in sandy
soils composed of marl, limestone and sandstone. In
2013, it turned out a luscious wine, blending floral apricot fruit with a truffle-like earthiness and a seashell minerality. The other gewurz comes from the Mambourg
grand cru, on limestone and marl; it produced a beautiful late-harvest wine in 2013, plump without being
noticeably sweet, its meadow-flower scents and vanillabean richness carried on a clean structure that keeps it
refreshing. These 2013s are a great tribute to Laurence
Faller, the last vintage she made before she passed
away in May 2014; today, her sister continues to run
the estate with the help of her son, Théo. -C.G.

TOP-SCORING WINES

95 '13 Wachau Smaragd Limitierte Edition Riesling $90 (4/16)

95 '13 Alsace Grand Cru VT Mambourg Gewurztraminer $97 (12/15)

93 '13 Wachau Smaragd Offenberg Riesling $43 (4/16)

94 '13 Alsace Altenbourg Gewurztraminer $53 (12/15)

92 '13 Wachau Limitierte Edition Grüner Veltliner $90 (4/16)

91 '14 Alsace Cuvée Ste. Catherine Pinot Gris $53 (12/15)
WINE & SPIRITS

BUYING GUIDE 2017

http://www.weingut-donabaum.at http://www.domaineweinbach.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - Winter 2016