Austria · Wachau

Weingut Alzinger

Dry Riesling and Grüner Veltliner from steep Wachau terraces in Unterloiben, shaped by rock-rich upper parcels and loess-based lower slopes.

The producer

Weingut Alzinger began bottling under its own name in 1983 and is now led by Leo Alzinger Jr., who took over in 2002 after a New Zealand harvest. From Unterloiben in the Wachau, the family works holdings including Loibenberg and Steinertal, where Riesling grows higher on weathered gneiss and Grüner Veltliner occupies lower, silty loess-based parcels. That division carries through to dry wines whose labels move from Dürnstein village bottlings to named Rieds.

Steep terraces require about 1,200 hours of handwork per hectare. In the cellar, whole-cluster crushing, short maceration and a 24-hour settling period precede fermentation. The 2023 Dürnstein Riesling Federspiel, drawn from small parcels at the foot of Loibenberg, brings herbal and resinous notes, citrus fruit, lively acidity and a saline finish; vineyard-designated Grüner Veltliner offers a broader, savoury textural counterpoint.

Known for

Dry Wachau Riesling and Grüner Veltliner from terraced, parcel-driven sites.

Notable facts

The story

The First Alzinger Label

In 1983, Leo Alzinger Sr. first bottled wine under the Alzinger family’s own label. The date is recorded as the start of the winery’s established presence in the Wachau. It attached the family name to bottles from the estate in Unterloiben, where the vineyards include Loibenberg and Steinertal. Wine that year left the cellar in a labelled bottle bearing Alzinger rather than as wine without the family name on its presentation. The change belongs to a particular person and a particular year: Leo Alzinger Sr., 1983, and the first bottle under his own label.

From the atlas

Weingut Alzinger

At A Glance

Weingut Alzinger is a family estate in Unterloiben, in Austria’s Wachau, making dry Riesling and Grüner Veltliner from steep terraces. Its key sites include Loibenberg and Steinertal, where upper rock-rich parcels are planted to Riesling and lower silty, loess-based ground to Grüner Veltliner. The range moves from Dürnstein village wines to bottles named for individual vineyards.

The Producer

Leo Alzinger Sr. first bottled wine under the family label in 1983. Leo Alzinger Jr. took over the domaine in 2002 after returning from a harvest in New Zealand. The estate’s work centres on Riesling and Grüner Veltliner: a Dürnstein label can bring together parcels around the village, while a Ried bottling names a particular vineyard. Those two label forms lead to different expressions of Wachau fruit.

Place

Unterloiben sits in the Wachau, where terraced vineyards divide a short distance into many small parcels. Alzinger’s holdings include Loibenberg, Steinertal, Hollerin, Mühlpoint, Hoherin and Liebenberg. A Dürnstein Riesling Federspiel can therefore be assembled from several parcels, while a wine such as Ried Hochstrasser Grüner Veltliner Federspiel narrows the label to one named site.

Soil And Site

Loibenberg and Steinertal are dominated by weathered gneiss. On these terraces, Alzinger plants Riesling higher on rock-rich ground and Grüner Veltliner lower down, where silty loess-based soils occur. The planting pattern puts Riesling in the stonier upper parcels and Grüner Veltliner in deeper lower ground, helping explain why the estate’s two principal grapes are presented through both place names and grape names.

Story

Alzinger’s modern estate story begins with a practical change in 1983: wine was bottled under the family name. That established the bottle, rather than bulk wine, as the estate’s public form. When Leo Alzinger Jr. assumed responsibility in 2002, after harvest work in New Zealand, he inherited a range already rooted in Wachau terraces and in the distinction between Riesling and Grüner Veltliner. The result is a cellar line built around named sites, village fruit and dry white wines.

Vineyards And Cellar

The steep slopes demand roughly 1,200 hours of manual work per hectare. On terraced parcels where machinery has limited access, hands can work around the vines and pick fruit from the separate elevations and soils used for Riesling and Grüner Veltliner. Parcel-by-parcel work preserves the material needed for both blended village wines and vineyard-designated bottles.

In the cellar, Alzinger uses whole-cluster crushing, a short maceration and 24 hours of settling before fermentation. Whole clusters and brief skin contact bring juice and solids together before settling clarifies the must. The sequence supports dry whites whose fruit, acidity and texture can be carried through fermentation without relying on overt oak flavour.

Wines

The range is organised first by grape, then by origin. Riesling and Grüner Veltliner appear as Dürnstein wines and as bottlings from named Rieds. The 2023 Dürnstein Riesling Federspiel is 100% Riesling, built from numerous small parcels at the foot of Loibenberg; it is a village-level wine made from a shared area rather than a single-vineyard statement.

Ried Hochstrasser Grüner Veltliner Federspiel takes the other route, naming its vineyard on the label. Across the range, Riesling brings citrus, herbal and saline notes into a dry, acid-led frame, while Grüner Veltliner offers a different body and texture through its lower-slope, loess-based planting. Federspiel signals a lighter Wachau classification than the region’s fuller styles, keeping the focus on fruit, acidity and finish.

In The Glass

The 2023 Dürnstein Riesling Federspiel opens with herbs and resinous notes, then moves into citrus fruit and a saline edge. Its 100% Riesling base and collection of small parcels produce a dry palate with lively acidity rather than a single-site profile. The finish carries the herbal and salty notes beyond the fruit, leaving a clean, mineral impression.

Grüner Veltliner takes a broader textural role in the range. In a vineyard-designated Federspiel such as Ried Hochstrasser, the grape’s dry structure and fruit can be read alongside the lower-slope ground from which it comes. The contrast is useful: Riesling directs attention to citrus, acidity and saline finish; Grüner Veltliner places more emphasis on body, texture and savoury detail.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with the 2023 Dürnstein Riesling Federspiel. It is 100% Riesling, assembled from many small parcels at the foot of Loibenberg, so it introduces the estate’s village-wine approach before the named-vineyard bottles. Expect herbs, resin, citrus and a saline finish over dry, lively acidity. Its multi-parcel origin also shows how Alzinger can make a Wachau wine from several terrace sites without presenting it as a single Ried.

Anecdote

In 1983, Leo Alzinger Sr. first bottled wine under the Alzinger family’s own label. The date marks the start of the estate’s named-bottle history in the Wachau, and it is independently recorded as the winery’s emergence there. Before that milestone, there was family wine production; from 1983, bottles left the estate carrying the Alzinger name. The change was attached to a particular person, a particular year and a physical object: a bottle labelled by the family rather than wine remaining without the estate name on it. Nearly two decades later, Leo Alzinger Jr. would take over the domaine in 2002 after returning from a New Zealand harvest.

Final Word

Alzinger is best approached through the relationship between terrace and label: rock-rich upper parcels for Riesling, loess-based lower parcels for Grüner Veltliner, then Dürnstein or Ried on the bottle. The 2023 Dürnstein Riesling Federspiel puts that relationship into a dry, citrus-and-saline glass.

Sources

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