2018 Weingut Prager Gruner Veltliner Federspiel Ried Hinter Der Burg Wachau Austria 750 ml

“From Rock to Wine”—A Bold Statement, Bottled

“Have there been greater Veltliners bottled in the past 16 years?” That was a question recently posed by Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate referring to today’s legendary producer, but we had the same thought last year when we accompanied our own Master Sommelier Sur Lucero to Wachau, Austria to taste through the world-class Prager cellar.

Prager Grüner Veltliners are characterized by a weight of mineral-driven concentration that is belied by their sharp focus, and Sur has sworn by them as among his most versatile go-to white wines for years, citing their uncanny ability to balance power, tension, and zesty vibrancy with ethereal, herbal aromatics. The combination makes them ultimate ‘impress the boss without breaking the bank’ sort of wines.

For the uninitiated, Prager ranks among the top Austrian producers to know. But if you need a place to start, the 2018 Prager Federspiel Hinter Der Burg Grüner Veltliner was the hands-down star of our tasting. This level of complexity sourced from any other region would at least double (or even triple) the insanely reasonable $30 price.

The estate’s famed terroir comes soaring through in the wine’s dense, rocky minerality, zingy fresh acidity, and classic Grüner notes of exotic star fruit, tarragon, and fleshy Asian pear. The result is an enchanting, precise Austrian white.

We were stunned, but Sur wasn’t surprised. He reminded us how the best of Austria can mirror the density and almost tactile concentration of the greatest German producers, while harkening to the mineral tension of Burgundy stalwarts like Montrachet. Quite a statement—or so we thought before we tasted this Prager bottling.

We met with winemaker Toni Bodenstein, the Wachau soil-whisperer, widely considered not only the foremost authority on the area’s geology and various microclimates, but also the face of the future of Austrian wine. (He’s also the longtime mayor of Weissenkirchen and a bit of a polymath, deeply studied in science, history, and viniculture). He takes an almost clinical approach to the vineyards, which has improved the wines beyond their already legendary status. 

Perhaps Vinous sums it up best: “Toni Bodenstein elevated the stature of his father-in-law Franz Prager’s estate to international notoriety with wines that consistently continue to be among the most complex, intriguing and subtle of any of the world’s Rieslings or Grüner Veltliners.”

Speaking with Toni, you get the sense that he’s a bit obsessed with his vineyard’s biodiversity and unique sedimentary soils composed of stones from the Danube river: gneiss, granite, and schist. Prager’s motto, “Vom Stein zum Wein” or “from rock to wine” is a literal statement of intent—one that is translated brilliantly in this Hinter Der Burg (which means “behind the old castle”) cuvée.

Grüner Veltliner is a category that has been often overlooked in this country, but anyone who claims to love crisp, zippy, mineral-driven white wines will adore Prager’s tremendous value bottling. For aromatic complexity, precision, and purity, Prager has few equals. Anywhere.

Or as Sur put it as we headed back to Vienna to catch our flight: “If I was forced to buy from only one Austrian producer from 2018, it would be Prager.”