Austria · Kamptal

Weingut Arndorfer

Organic Kamptal estate making Grüner Veltliner in classic, lees-aged and skin-fermented forms.

The producer

Martin and Anna Arndorfer work in Strass im Strassertal, in Lower Austria’s Kamptal winegrowing area. Their organic estate uses Grüner Veltliner as a changing reference point: a classic version foregrounds fruit, freshness and spice, while other bottlings take the grape toward more texture and dry grip.

Strasser Weinberge Grüner Veltliner spends ten months in mostly neutral barrels with stainless steel, building body while keeping acidity and fruit in view. Per Se ferments on skins for 16 days before unfiltered, unfined bottling, so aromatic fruit arrives with tannin, savoury texture and a firmer finish.

Known for

Grüner Veltliner shaped through classic, lees-aged and skin-contact cellar work.

Notable facts

The story

When the label had to change

After formative travel, Martin and Anna Arndorfer returned to Kamptal, the region they call home, to make wine in Strass im Strassertal. Some of the wines they made did not fit the expected profile of the local appellation category. Rather than alter the wine to keep the appellation wording, they accepted its loss on the label. A wine from their Kamptal fruit could therefore appear outside the Kamptal or Strassertal appellation framework when skin contact, cellar handling or the final style placed it beyond the category’s rules. The decision was made at the point where vineyard fruit, cellar method and the printed label met.

From the atlas

Weingut Arndorfer

At A Glance

Weingut Arndorfer is Martin and Anna Arndorfer’s organic estate in Strass im Strassertal, within Lower Austria’s Kamptal winegrowing area. Their wines move from classic Grüner Veltliner, rosé and Zweigelt to skin-fermented, lees-aged and unfiltered bottles. The through-line is Grüner Veltliner: the same grape can be fresh and spicy in one wine, then more textured, tannic and aromatic when the cellar treatment changes.

The Producer

Martin and Anna Arndorfer returned to Kamptal, the region they call home, to make wine at Weinbergweg 16 in Strass im Strassertal. Kamptal and Strassertal are the appellation names connected with the estate, while Grüner Veltliner provides its most useful reference point: a familiar Austrian grape used here in both conventional and deliberately less conventional forms.

Place

Strass im Strassertal sits within Kamptal, so a bottle can carry either the wider Kamptal name or the more local Strassertal name. That distinction frames the range rather than locking it into one style. Grüner Veltliner and Riesling belong to the regional conversation, but Arndorfer also works with a wider registered planting list that includes Zweigelt, Chardonnay, Roter Veltliner, Neuburger and several other varieties. The result is a cellar with room for white, rosé, red and skin-contact wines rather than a single regional formula.

Soil And Site

The documented site information centres on Strass im Strassertal and the Kamptal growing area, not on named soil types or individual parcels. That leaves the wine labels and cellar choices as the clearer guides to what is in the glass: a classic Grüner Veltliner is shaped for freshness and spice, while a skin-fermented Grüner draws texture and tannin from extended contact with its grape skins.

Story

The estate grew from a family mixed farm dating to 1770, and Martin is described as the third generation to focus on wine. After travelling, Martin and Anna came back to Kamptal and made wines that could depart from local expectations. Their choice was not to abandon the home region, but to keep working there while allowing a bottle’s style to determine whether it fitted an appellation category. That decision opens space for wines such as Per Se Grüner Veltliner, where skin contact and unfiltered bottling put tactile grip ahead of a standard regional profile.

Vineyards And Cellar

Organic farming is the estate’s stated agricultural base, keeping the vineyard work aligned with a cellar that uses comparatively little correction. The wines are not handled through one fixed recipe. Strasser Weinberge Grüner Veltliner spends ten months in 80% neutral barrels and 20% stainless-steel tanks; neutral wood can broaden body without laying a strong new-oak flavour over the fruit, while steel keeps the finish clean.

Per Se Grüner Veltliner follows a different route: it ferments on its skins for 16 days, then is bottled unfiltered and unfined. Skins supply tannin and a firmer, more tactile texture; leaving the wine unfiltered and unfined preserves that material in the bottle. Elsewhere in the natural-wine range, lees ageing and barriques add further options for weight, aromatic detail and savoury depth.

Wines

The range has two useful lanes. The classic wines include Grüner Veltliner, rosé and Zweigelt, with the Grüner described through fruit, freshness, spice and finish. These are the wines where Grüner’s lively acidity and spice remain close to the surface, while the red and rosé widen the estate beyond white wine.

The second lane is more exploratory. Handcrafted Grüner Veltliner brings fruit, texture and spice together in a fuller expression. Strasser Weinberge takes Grüner toward a rounder, more layered body through long ageing in neutral barrels and steel. Per Se takes the grape into skin-contact territory, where aromatic fruit is joined by dry tannin and grip. These are not different labels for the same wine; each uses a distinct method to alter body, texture and finish.

In The Glass

Across the Grüner Veltliners, start with fruit and spice, then look for the structural shift beneath them. The classic style carries freshness and a clean finish. Handcrafted Grüner adds more texture without leaving the grape’s spicy profile behind. In Per Se, skin fermentation changes the palate most clearly: the wine has more grip, a dry tannic feel and a tactile finish, with aromatic material carried through the mid-palate rather than simply floating above it.

The natural-wine bottles may also show lees or barrique influence as extra weight and savoury detail. Those choices do not replace fruit; they change how fruit sits in the wine, moving it from a quick, fresh impression toward a broader body and longer, more textural finish.

A Bottle To Understand It

Choose Strasser Weinberge Grüner Veltliner. It is a Grüner Veltliner aged for ten months in 80% neutral barrels and 20% stainless steel, a combination that makes its cellar work easy to feel without turning the wine into an oak exercise. Expect fruit and spice carried by a rounder texture, fresh acidity and a clean finish. It is the right first bottle because it connects Kamptal’s central grape to Arndorfer’s preference for shape and texture over a fixed template.

Anecdote

After their formative travel, Martin and Anna Arndorfer returned to Kamptal to make wine in the region they called home. Some of the wines they made did not fit the expected profile for the local appellation category. Rather than alter those wines to secure the appellation wording, they accepted that the label could lose it. The consequence was visible on the bottle: a wine made from their Kamptal fruit could appear outside the Kamptal or Strassertal appellation framework when its skin contact, cellar handling or final style fell beyond what the category allowed. Their return to Strass im Strassertal therefore included a practical decision about labels as well as vineyards and cellar work.

Final Word

Arndorfer is most compelling through Grüner Veltliner: one grape, several cellar routes, and clear changes in acidity, texture, tannin and finish. Start with Strasser Weinberge, then move to Per Se to feel what sixteen days on skins can do to the same regional reference grape.

Sources

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