Review of the 2020 vintage

Michael Malat is extremely tall. It’s the first thing you notice upon meeting him. His splendid wines are generally the second, as Michael is one of the most talented winemakers we’ve had the pleasure of meeting. His father Gerald was a talented winemaker who first brought the estate to prominence, but Michael seems to have reached another level, with a seemingly supernatural sense for imparting minerality into his wines. Everything he makes has a magical combination of textural broadness and aromatic focus that we find just as much in the entry level Gruner Veltliners as we do in his utterly magical single-vineyard Erste Lage wines. In 2020, he was given an absolute gift of a vintage, when the weather throughout Central Europe stayed temperate - not too hot, not too cold, deep into the fall. Winemakers looking for balance and keen acidity in their Gruner Veltliner didn’t have to look terribly hard in 2020. As usual, Malat was among the best of the region. In this striking bottle, there’s aromas of fresh lemon and green apple, lime, cracked white pepper and snap pea. The palate offers lemon curd and pineapple and yellow plum all bouncing around with energetic acidity. The finish leaves us with all these fruits, along with the faint impression of salt. Gruner is famous for its ability to stand up to asparagus, but it would do just as well with spicy Lao Sausage. Set your imagination free with this one.