Prager: 'If you like it racy, 2025 is for you'

A flagship Austrian estate 

The small Wachau estate of Prager is responsible for world-class Grüner Veltliner and Riesling, fashioned from grapes grown on steeply terraced slopes above the River Danube. Prager makes intensely pure wines, very distinct expressions of terroir which vary dramatically from one vineyard site to another.

The Wachau may be small, but it's responsible for a disproportionate number of Austria's greatest wines. Cliffs absorb and re-radiate the heat of the sun. Warm air currents from Hungary face off against cold Alpine air, resulting in some dramatic temperature swings, ideal for great wines. Complex, diverse soils emphasize site difference. And Prager work very hard to make the most of this bounty. They have a number of old vine sites and when they plant new vines, they use a deliberately diverse selection of grape clones. They train each parcel differently according to situation and soil. Planting densities are tight, sometimes extremely so, to force the vines to work harder.

2025 was Robert Bodenstein's sixth vintage making the wines at Prager. Writing on vinous.com, Anne Kriebel MW notes that 'the house style, where everything is made in stainless steel and nothing goes through malolactic conversion, is on song in 2025. The 2025 vintage in Lower Austria is like a souvenir from the past: Grüner Veltliners are textbook examples of peppery verve, while Rieslings come with wonderful cut, afforded by the acidity of a year that had sufficient rain and no real heat spikes. If you like it racy, 2025 is for you.' /NT