Peter Veyder-Malberg walked away from a career as an advertising art director to rebuild the abandoned terraced vineyards of Austria’s Wachau. Founded in 2008 and based in the Spitzer Graben — the coldest, most remote corner of the appellation — his estate covers just four hectares across more than twenty parcels, all farmed organically and almost entirely by hand. He opted out of the region’s traditional Codex classification to focus purely on site, producing fewer than a thousand cases per year across all of his wines. These are among the most radical white wines being made anywhere in Europe.

Liebedich is Peter’s panoramic Wachau cuvée, a blend of grüner veltliner from terraced vineyards spanning the full breadth of the appellation. The name is an Austrian term of endearment, and the cuvée was born in 2012 when yields from individual sites were too small for separate bottlings. It draws from plots on primary rock alongside the flat Kreutles vineyard in Unterloiben, fermented with indigenous yeasts and aged mostly in stainless steel with a portion in large old oak. Peter's approach in the cellar is counterintuitive: he exposes the juice to air before fermentation, letting it oxidize early so the finished wine won't. The result is unusual staying power — his bottles famously hold for weeks after opening.

2024 is bright and immediate. Expect mandarin peel, green apple, and a thread of flinty minerality running through a clean, linear finish.