Sattlerhof Sauvignon Blanc Ried Alter Kranachberg GSTK (RP 94)

94 ROBERT PARKER by Stephan Reinhardt
The Gamlitz 2022 Ried Alter Kranachberg GSTK develops a clear, elegant, delicately spicy nose of ripe, concentrated fruit with subtle saltiness and mineral substance. Elegant and dense on the palate, this is a rich, juicy and generous yet lively and balanced Sauvignon whose limestone soils interspersed with flint and quartz allows for a fairly fruit-driven yet structured Sauvignon. It's a very sensual, mouthfilling and aromatic Kranachberg with plenty of salt and a fine tannin structure. 13.5% stated alcohol. Vinolok glass stopper.

Unfortunately, I did not visit the Sattlerhof this year. The tastings took place abroad, partly in Grafenegg at the Single Vineyard Wine Summit last autumn and partly at the Tement winery, where I also held tastings in April this year—mostly from barrel samples of the 2023 vintage, some of which were still to be filled, and partly also from the 2022 vintage.

From the great, actually perfect 2021 vintage, there was only the Trinkaus Sauvignon from the Sattler family to taste; it's a great wine indeed, but the 2022 seems to be somewhat inferior, as it doesn't quite reach the drama of the 2021.

I met Willi Sattler and his wife, Maria, at a festival in Lower Austria in June. "Everything was healthy in 2021. The wines are precise and are among the best that have been produced in recent years," Willi said. Maria added that the whole year went perfectly. "The ripeness was homogeneous thanks to fantastic harvest weather, and the quantity was finally good again," she explained.

"Everything looks perfect so far this year too," Willi said. "There has also been no frost and no hail so far..." It looks like 2025 will be an early harvest.

The 2022 vintage in focus budded relatively late (what was previously considered normal) at the end of April. There was no frost, and the weather was warm and humid until flowering, which began relatively early, on May 29. After some very hot and dry phases, the harvest began on September 12 and was to be the shortest in the winery's history. "The grapes ripened very evenly and optimally, so we were able to harvest very compactly and without stress," Maria said. There was only one day of rain during the harvest; otherwise, the autumn weather was picture-perfect.

Regarding the dry phase, she said, "Here in Styria, it lasts a month at most." And even in hot, dry phases, there is still enough moisture in the soil; even in dry years, Styria still has 800 to 900 millimeters of precipitation. "Even in 2003, the driest year to date, we still had over 600 millimeters of precipitation. Other regions could only dream of that," added Willi.

Climate change has ensured that "we now have more stable weather conditions—i.e., stable rain or stable heat. Nevertheless, we are benefiting from climate change," said Willi. "When I started at Sattlerhof, you still had to fight for the grapes to ripen. Now we have almost too much ripeness." When he was young, Willi Sattler continued, the grapes were harvested from the first week of October until All Saints' Day on November 1. "Today, we are already finished with the grape harvest in September, a good month earlier."

Producers have to react to this in terms of viticulture. But not everything can be regulated. "The frosts that seem to occur more frequently in spring, especially in 2016, hit us hard due to the early budding of the vines," Willi explained. The longer periods of rain during the flowering period also cause problems, he said, as the inflorescences trickle away and decimate the yield early on, especially for varieties such as Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris and Chardonnay. They were hit particularly hard in the spring of 2023, when persistent May rain during the flowering period caused noticeable losses. There was also more rain in August, but the fall saved the vintage. "There was actually nothing to sort; everything was homogeneously ripe, more homogeneous than in 2022," Maria said.

The 2023s are currently still characterized by the enological measures taken to prevent too much charm, and they show phenolic notes and a lot of grip on the nose and on the palate, which gives the wines the necessary tension.

The 2022s are more delicate than the 2021s and show beautiful fruit aromas. In an email, Andreas Sattler described the vintage as follows: "2022 is like a bodybuilder dancing ballet. The warm year has produced powerful yet finely structured and pointed wines."

Sattler's 2022 Sauvignon Blanc from the Kapellenweingarten is in particularly convincing early form, and the 2022 Sauvignon from the Trinkaus vineyard, which is always slow to develop, is sure to catch up with it.

Drink Date: 2025 - 2040

Published: Jun 26, 2025