Why it matters
The producer
Gerhard Deim senior and Gerhard Deim junior run a family estate built around cross-generational work: established methods remain in use while younger experimentation enters the cellar and vineyards. That approach appears in a range rooted in Kamptal’s Grüner Veltliner and Riesling, then widened by site-named wines and sparkling bottles.
The estate measures work across its wine hierarchy through attention to individual vines. A named wine such as Ried Bernthal therefore starts with a particular vineyard rather than a broad regional blend, before its élevage adds another layer to the bottle.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Schönberg sits in a basin near Kamptal’s northern end, where hot days are followed by especially cool nights. Daytime warmth can bring grapes to ripeness, while the night air helps retain freshness; in Deim’s Grüner Veltliner, that combination suits a palate with ripe yellow fruit rather than weight alone.
Kamptal’s regional strengths, Grüner Veltliner and Riesling, set the estate’s frame. Grüner Veltliner provides the clearest documented route into named sites such as Bernthal, while Riesling keeps the range connected to the same cool-night setting.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
Care for individual vines is the estate’s stated starting point, and Ried Bernthal shows how that work continues after harvest. The Grüner Veltliner matures in 500-litre oak and acacia barrels, large enough for the wine’s yellow fruit to remain present while vanilla, marzipan, tobacco and aniseed appear around it.
Those vessels matter because the documented 2020 Bernthal tastes juicy rather than simply woody. Oak and acacia frame apricot, yellow apple and orange zest, while subtle acidity keeps the mouthfeel moving into a fruity finish.
Wines to know
The range in view
Deim’s range has three useful shapes. Grüner Veltliner and Riesling provide the regional still-wine base; Ried Bernthal and Ried Kalvarienberg bring named-vineyard bottlings into view; and 50:50 occupies the sparkling category. The result is not a ladder of status but a choice between still or sparkling texture, and between regional grape character and a particular site name.
Its 500-litre oak and acacia maturation accompanies yellow apple, apricot, orange zest, tobacco, aniseed and vanilla, with juicy fruit and discreet acidity. Ried Kalvarienberg is another vineyard wine, documented through its 2022 vintage and a 2024 IWSC Wine Trophy.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Start with Ried Bernthal Grüner Veltliner. It joins the essential parts of Deim’s work in one bottle: a southeast-facing Schönberg-area vineyard, Grüner Veltliner as a Kamptal grape, and maturation in 500-litre oak and acacia barrels. Expect juicy apricot and yellow apple, orange-zest lift, savoury tobacco and aniseed, a rounded texture and subtle acidity. It comes first because its site, cellar treatment and sensory character are all clearly documented.