Weingut Loimer

The story

The Black Cube Above The Loess Cellar

In 2000, Fred Loimer built a minimalist black cube over a cellar in Langenlois that had been hand-dug through loess 150 years earlier. Above ground, the new structure was dark, spare and sharply modern; below it lay the older underground cellar where the estate’s earlier wines had been made. The construction did not replace the old cellar with a different address. It placed the new winery directly over it, at Haindorfer Vögerlweg 23. The contrast remains physical and immediate: black walls at the surface, then loess and the hand-dug cellar beneath them.

From the atlas

Weingut Loimer

At A Glance

• Home: Langenlois, Lower Austria
• Core grapes: Grüner Veltliner and Riesling
• Main landscape: Kamptal, with additional grapes from Gumpoldskirchen in the Thermenregion
• Vineyard direction: Biodynamic conversion began in 2006; selective harvest is by hand
• Start with: Kamptal Grüner Veltliner 2025, a dry Kamptal DAC wine fermented and raised in stainless steel

The Producer

Weingut Loimer is based at Haindorfer Vögerlweg 23 in Langenlois, a Kamptal town in Lower Austria. Fred Loimer took over from his father in 1998, and Grüner Veltliner and Riesling remain the estate’s principal grapes. Kamptal on the label points to the regional home of the range; a named vineyard such as Käferberg or Seeberg narrows the address to a particular site within that landscape.

The cellar’s reach is wider than Langenlois alone. In 2004, Loimer leased Weingut Schellmann in Gumpoldskirchen, bringing Thermenregion fruit into the estate alongside its Kamptal work. The result is not one undifferentiated regional style: the labels separate regional wines, Langenloiser wines and named-site bottlings so grape and origin can be read together.

Place

Kamptal combines hot days with cool nights. For Grüner Veltliner and Riesling, that daily swing supports ripe fruit while retaining acidity, so the wines can carry stone fruit and citrus without losing a dry, lively line through the palate.

Langenlois is Loimer’s working base, while Gumpoldskirchen is an additional source of grapes in the Thermenregion. This distinction matters in the glass and on the label: a Kamptal Grüner Veltliner speaks from the estate’s central region, whereas the Gumpoldskirchen lease adds another Lower Austrian growing area rather than moving the winery’s home.

Soil And Site

Loimer’s Kamptal sites include Loiserberg, Käferberg, Steinmassl, Seeberg, Heiligenstein and Berg Vogelsang. Across the region, the estate identifies gneiss, mica schist, sandstone and deep loess. Those materials differ in drainage, heat and water retention, which is why a vineyard name can carry more information than a regional designation alone.

Deep loess also runs beneath the winery: its old hand-dug cellar was cut into this soil. Above ground, the named sites allow Grüner Veltliner and Riesling to move from broad regional bottlings toward wines with a tighter vineyard address and a more site-specific texture.

Story

Loimer’s recent arc is marked by a series of practical decisions. Fred Loimer took over in 1998, then leased Weingut Schellmann in Gumpoldskirchen in 2004, adding a second Lower Austrian source of fruit. In 2006 the estate began its biodynamic conversion, shifting vineyard work toward compost preparations and close observation of the vines.

The following year, Loimer founded respect-BIODYN with fellow growers. The estate describes its association standards as stricter than EU organic rules. In wine terms, the work starts in the vineyard and continues through spontaneous fermentation and maturation in either stainless steel or wood, leaving the cellar to shape texture and fruit rather than replace the character of the grapes.

Vineyards And Cellar

Gentle pruning and selective hand harvesting put the first sorting decisions in the vineyard. Picking fruit selectively can keep damaged or unripe bunches out of the fermenter, helping Grüner Veltliner retain clean fruit and Riesling hold its acidity without relying on heavy cellar correction.

Loimer makes compost from vine and tree prunings, grape marc and animal dung. Fermentation is spontaneous, driven by yeasts naturally present around the grapes and cellar. Stainless steel preserves a direct fruit profile and taut acidity; wooden barrels offer another route for maturation. In the estate’s natural-wine work, native yeasts, extended skin contact and ageing without additives or intervention can bring more phenolic grip, savoury notes and texture.

Wines

The range begins with Kamptal Grüner Veltliner and Kamptal Riesling, then moves to Langenloiser bottlings and named-site wines. Grüner Veltliner appears under Seeberg and Käferberg, while Loiserberg, Steinmassl, Heiligenstein and Berg Vogelsang are among the estate’s named Kamptal vineyards. Regional labels offer the broader climate and geology of Kamptal; a vineyard label makes the site part of the wine’s address.

Sparkling wine has been part of Loimer’s work since 2013, creating a separate category beside the still Grüner Veltliner and Riesling range. Across the still wines, the central contrast is between citrus-led acidity, stone-fruit weight, chalky or mineral texture, and the extra grip that can come from a named place or longer skin contact.

In The Glass

Kamptal Grüner Veltliner 2025 opens with nectarine, pineapple and banana, then turns toward white pepper and lime zest. The palate is dry, with balanced acidity and a chalky texture rather than creamy weight. Its spontaneously fermented, stainless-steel élevage includes three to four months on full lees followed by fine-lees ageing, linking ripe fruit to a firmer mid-palate.

The finish is saline and mineral, with grip rather than sweetness. That combination makes the wine useful at the table: citrus and acidity can cut through richer food, while pepper, chalk and saline length keep the final mouthful dry.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with Loimer Kamptal Grüner Veltliner 2025. It is varietal Grüner Veltliner classified as Kamptal DAC, so bottle, grape and regional appellation are all plainly stated. Native-yeast fermentation and stainless-steel ageing keep the wine focused on nectarine, lime zest and white pepper rather than oak flavour.

Expect a dry body, balanced acidity, chalky texture and a mineral, saline finish. It comes first because its method and taste are specifically documented, while its Kamptal label introduces the regional foundation beneath Loimer’s Langenloiser and vineyard-designated wines.

Anecdote

In 2000, Fred Loimer built a minimalist black cube over a cellar in Langenlois that had been hand-dug through loess 150 years earlier. The contrast was deliberate and visible: a dark, modern structure above an underground space made by hand long before the new winery existed. The old cellar had been the setting for the estate’s earlier wine production, while the cube became the new surface of the winery at Haindorfer Vögerlweg 23. The building still joins those two physical moments in one place: black walls above ground, loess and the historic cellar below.

Final Word

Loimer’s useful starting coordinates are Langenlois, Kamptal, Grüner Veltliner and Riesling. Begin with the dry Kamptal Grüner Veltliner, then follow the labels toward Langenloiser and named-vineyard bottles when the chalky texture, citrus acidity and mineral finish are what you want more of.

Sources

• https://www.loimer.at/en/
• https://www.loimer.at/en/weingut/geschichte/
• https://www.loimer.at/en/weingut/biodynamisch/
• https://www.loimer.at/en/gebiete-rieden/kamptal/
• https://www.vineyardbrands.com/producer.aspx?id=169
• https://www.respekt-biodyn.bio/en/384.html
• https://www.loimer.at/shop/kamptal-2025-gruener-veltliner/