WTN: Grüner Veltliner Evening

Some brief nots on a great GV tasting:

Rudi Pichler GV Smaragd Hochrain 2007
A beauty. Nice balance, fruit and mineral, good length. Not overblown. **(*)

Rudi Pichler GV Smaragd Kollmütz 2006
Significantly richer. Too much for me. Heat on the finish. Still, impressive and not totally out of balance. **

Nikolayhof GV Smaragd im Weingebirge 2002
Pronounced forest honey notes. Not much typicity. Sleeker but lacks real drinkability *

Ott GV Rosenberg Reserve 2001
Plastic cork. Advanced color, but not kaputt yet. Nose of mature champagne. Solid acidity. **

Knoll GV Smaragd Schütt 2001
This is serious. Hazelnuts on the nose. Hay as well. Depth and complexity. Big but balanced. ****

Prager GV Smaragd Achleiten 2000
More reductive style. Freshness and minerals, great focus. Some floral elements. ***(*)

Alzinger GV Smaragd Steinertal 1999
Lively and with firm acidity, a bit reserved aromatically. Not so deep. ***

Hirtzberger GV Smaragd Honivogl 1999
Hazelnuts again. Some excotic notes too. Full and rich, a bit creamy, yet with a massive undercurrent of deep minerality in the bass register. Great wine. Maybe even ****(*)

FX Pichler GV Smaragd Kellerberg 1999
slightly corcked. Great shame. Seems to have everything needed for greatness, except a suitable corck. *****(?)

Bründelmayer GV Lamm 1997
New woodsy. Comparatively mediocre wine underneath. *

Knoll GV Smaragd Loibenberg 1997
Peach, nuts, smoke. Perfection in GV. Harmony, depth, power, minerality, length, just great. seems cooler and firmer than the equally fantastic 99 Loibenberg. might outlast it. *****

Hirtzberger GV Honifogl Honivogl 1986
Not the best bottle I’ve had of this. Great bottles are always *****. A hint of severity about it. Still much to be loved and admired. One should stick to magnums now… ****

Knowll GV TBA 1998
A bit crude and volatile for my taste. Sauternes lovers seem to enjoy it more. *

Hirtzberger GV Smaragd Honivogl 2001
opened spontaneously, but hard to judge after the TBA. probably not quite as good as the 99, but that may be unfair. ****(?)

Peter

[David M. Bueker]

I'm green with envy, especailly over hte Hirtzbergers. Too bad about the '99 Pichler.

So are you in the camp of 2006 Smaragds being too big for their own good?

Hirtzberger GV Smaragd Honivogl 1999
Hazelnuts again. Some excotic notes too. Full and rich, a bit creamy, yet with a massive undercurrent of deep minerality in the bass register. Great wine. Maybe even ****(*)

In one of those, "I can't believe this price" moments, I purchased a case of this wine many years ago when it was offerred at a discount. Including the shipping to my door, $44 per bottle.
I still have four left and have enjoyed everyone along the way.
Any thoughts on how long you think this might continue to develop?
Best, Jim

So are you in the camp of 2006 Smaragds being too big for their own good?

Yes, I'm worried about their size. I bought a little Hirtzberger 06 GV, butv mostly Geyerhof (esp. Steinleiten) which seemed to be better balanced than others.

Peter

[Any thoughts on how long you think this might continue to develop?
Best, Jim

I would think that it may live for another decade. Are you worried it may not? Given the greatness of the 86 at the age of about 20, I would leave myself a few bottles to try over the next decade...

Peter

FX Pichler GV Smaragd Kellerberg 1999
slightly corcked. Great shame. Seems to have everything needed for greatness, except a suitable corck. *****(?)

Really tragic. Corked Kellerberg must be really painful. The 99 Riesling from here was spectacular a week or so ago.

That's an insane lineup though, and that Knoll in particular sounds breathtaking.

Really tragic. Corked Kellerberg must be really painful.

I didn't notice it right away, and was immediately convinced of the greatness of the wine. Then I started noticing something was wrong (others were quicker to notice). But the wine is great, for sure, and I hope to encounter a good bottle some day

Peter

Bründelmayer GV Lamm 1997
New woodsy. Comparatively mediocre wine underneath. *

Do you find this to generally be the case with his Lamm or just in 97?

I didn't notice it right away, and was immediately convinced of the greatness of the wine. Then I started noticing something was wrong (others were quicker to notice). But the wine is great, for sure, and I hope to encounter a good bottle some day

Peter

Interesting - I had a similar experience with the only other corked FX wine I've had, the 02 Steinertal Riesling. Just very very slightly flawed - a couple at the table still didn't think it corked, and I still could drink a bit of it and enjoy it and was convinced that even if flawed, it was a brilliant wine. Gotta love a guy whose corked wines are even drinkable.

Do you find this to generally be the case with his Lamm or just in 97?

I have no recollection of other Lamms (Lämmer?). Are they always woodsy? This was quite a let down, but maybe in other contexts it would have fared ok...

Peter