From the atlas
Weingut Weszeli
At A Glance
- Where: Langenlois, in Kamptal, Lower Austria; Grüner Veltliner and Riesling carry the estate’s local focus.
- Scale: 30 hectares worked according to biodynamic principles, putting vineyard work at the centre of fruit selection.
- Cellar signature: spontaneous fermentation, lees ageing and large wooden vessels bring texture and savoury development beyond fresh primary fruit.
- Start with: Caractère Grüner Veltliner, a dry, textured expression of the estate’s approach to Grüner.
The Producer
Weingut Weszeli works from Großer Buriweg 16 in Langenlois, making Grüner Veltliner and Riesling from Kamptal vineyards. Davis Weszeli took over a vineyard outside the town in 2011, and Thomas Ganser joined as winemaker in 2015. The result is a 30-hectare estate where Grüner can move from citrus-led refreshment toward broader, lees-shaped texture, while Riesling remains part of the Kamptal range.
Grape growing and winemaking at the estate are traced to 1679. Weszeli calls its present approach Terrafactum: wine formed through the ground under the vines, biodynamic work and an unhurried cellar. That connection is most tangible in Grüner Veltliner, whose dry acidity and peppery, savoury potential can carry both site character and extended ageing.
Place
Langenlois sits in Kamptal, a Lower Austrian wine area where Pannonian and Alpine climate influences meet. Grüner Veltliner and Riesling both benefit from ripening conditions that can build fruit while retaining acidity, so bottles from the area can feel dry and energetic rather than simply ripe.
Kamptal is the regional name on the broader address; Langenlois narrows the wine’s origin to the town and surrounding vineyards. In Weszeli’s range, that relationship appears in the Terrafactum Langenlois Grüner Veltliner: a wine tied to a cluster of local parcels rather than a single named site.
Soil And Site
Loess and gravel appear in the Langenlois vineyard material behind Weszeli’s Grüner Veltliner. Loess is a fine, wind-blown soil that can hold water; gravel drains more freely. Across Kamptal, crystalline rock and red sandstone add further geological variation, so a regional Grüner can gather fruit from markedly different ground rather than from one uniform soil type.
The current Terrafactum Langenlois Grüner Veltliner draws on 60 parcels, with loess a documented part of its vineyard picture. Bringing those parcels together creates a wine of breadth: lees contact then works with that fruit to add a more rounded texture while acidity keeps the palate dry.
Story
The modern estate began in 2011, when Davis Weszeli moved from city life to take over a vineyard outside Langenlois. He acquired Kamptal vineyards in the same year, joining a property with records of grape cultivation and winemaking reaching back to 1679. Thomas Ganser’s arrival in 2015 added a winemaker to the project as the vineyards and cellar work took shape.
Organic certification followed in 2020 after biodynamic conversion began in 2019. The estate follows Demeter Association guidelines and uses natural preparations for vines and soils. Those choices put attention on vine and soil health before harvest; in the glass, the intended outcome is fruit with enough shape to handle spontaneous fermentation and time on lees.
Vineyards And Cellar
Weszeli’s 30 hectares are cultivated with biodynamic principles, including natural preparations and hand work in the vineyards. The cellar continues that low-intervention sequence with indigenous-yeast fermentation, lees ageing and maturation in large wooden vessels. Lees contact can build body and a faint savoury note, while large wood allows maturation without turning the wine into an overtly oaky Grüner.
The estate keeps its top-cru wines in large wood for more than two years, longer than the shorter cellar ageing often preferred locally. Time in those vessels moves the wines away from simple youthful fruit: dried-herb, savoury and tertiary notes can emerge, and the texture gains weight before release. The delay matters because Grüner’s acidity and Riesling’s citrus-led structure have room to settle into a more layered finish.
Wines
Grüner Veltliner and Riesling form the estate’s main range. Grüner is the clearest thread in the named bottles: Caractère Grüner Veltliner and Terrafactum Langenlois Grüner Veltliner. The first is a distinct cuvée with its own vineyard and élevage details; the second gathers Langenlois fruit, making its dry acidity and lees-derived texture part of a broader local expression.
Caractère 2023 is described by the estate through its vineyard composition, vinification, élevage, texture and acidity. A separate current 2024 release has its own documented vineyard sources and production details, so the two should be treated as related wines rather than interchangeable vintages. Terrafactum Langenlois 2023 is entirely Grüner Veltliner; the current 2024 release is described as fruit from 60 parcels, aged five months on lees.
In The Glass
Expect dry Grüner Veltliner rather than sweetness: acidity keeps the palate lively, while lees ageing adds body and a fuller texture. Caractère’s documented profile centres on the relationship between acidity, texture and flavour, so its fruit is not the whole story; the palate carries more than a simple crisp white-wine shape.
The current Terrafactum Langenlois release brings together loess-grown fruit from many parcels and five months on lees. That combination points toward ripe fruit and a rounded mid-palate, with dry acidity carrying the finish. Across the estate, spontaneous fermentation and larger wooden vessels favour savoury detail and texture over obvious oak flavour.
A Bottle To Understand It
Start with Weszeli Caractère Grüner Veltliner 2023. It is a Grüner Veltliner whose producer description directly connects vineyard composition, vinification, élevage, texture and acidity. The wine is dry and structured around fresh acidity, but it is not designed as a light, quickly made white: the cellar work adds weight and texture alongside the fruit.
Caractère is useful because it places the estate’s central grape beside its practical choices in the cellar. Its Grüner Veltliner fruit provides the citrus-and-spice frame associated with the variety, while fermentation and maturation fill out the palate and leave a more savoury finish.
Anecdote
In 2011, Davis Weszeli left city life and took over a vineyard outside Langenlois. He bought Kamptal vineyards that year, beginning the present project at an estate where grape cultivation and winemaking are traced to 1679. The work started with vines around the town rather than a newly built brand or a single purchased wine. Four years later, in 2015, German-born winemaker Thomas Ganser joined him. The estate now works 30 hectares according to biodynamic principles, and its cellar ferments wines with indigenous yeasts before ageing them on lees and, for top-cru wines, in large wooden vessels for more than two years.
Final Word
Weszeli is worth seeking out for Kamptal Grüner Veltliner with more than brisk fruit. Langenlois parcels, biodynamic vineyard work, lees and time in large wood bring dry acidity, body and a savoury finish into the same bottle.
Sources
- https://www.weszeli.at/en
- https://www.weszeli.at/en/my-short-history
- https://www.weszeli.at/en/biodynamic
- https://www.weszeli.at/en/cellar
- https://thesourceimports.com/producers/weszeli/
- https://www.weszeli.at/en/shop/gv-caractere-2023-075l-en
- https://www.systembolaget.se/produkt/vin/fromm-9207501/
- https://www.munskankarna.se/sv/vinlocus/tillfalligt-sortiment-20-februari-2026/caractere-gruner-veltliner-2024
- https://www.systembolaget.se/produkt/vin/weszeli-7052501/
- https://www.quaffablewines.se/sv/Weszeli-Terrafactum-Langenlois-Gruner-Veltliner-sv.aspx/