Tonight I had to go help a friend drink some GV.
Hirtzberger GV Smaragd Ried Honivogl 2006 -
Wachau14,5% abv. A sweet, honeyed and spicy style, very fruit forward and tropical in style. Rich, only moderate in acidity, and the alcohol is too obvious. The finish lacks a touch of freshness. But despite all this, the aromatics were intriguing enough that I did kind of enjoy my glass! But it was far from the best wine opened tonight.
Jurtschitsch Ried Käferberg 2007 -
KamptalOak. Fair acidity, but the bitter oak treatment overwhelmed any GV character. Not for me.
Rudi Pichler GV Smaragd Wösendorfer Kollmütz Reserve 2007 -
WachauA spicy and ripe style, very attractive green pea and elderflower aromas. The palate is rich and fairly low in acidity, but balanced and the high alcohol (14,5%) doesn't show. Good.
Prager GV Smaragd Ried Achleiten 2008 -
WachauA rich aroma of spice and apricot. Lovely tangy acidity, a more savoury style than the previous wines with real cut and precision and delineation - a leaner style of GV. Lovely.
Schmelz GV Smaragd Höhereck 2011 -
KamptalVery primary, some cool-ferment/pear-drop aromas. Nice acidity. But rather forgettable in this company.
Bründlmayer GV Ried Lamm 1999 -
KamptalA really lovely, perfumed aroma, almost as if it were slightly botrytized, but it also has a fresh green pea aroma. Taut, not too rich though it was a pretty ripe year, good acidity. Lovely.
Bründlmayer Riesling Ried Zöbinger Heiligenstein 2001 1999 -
KamptalAn aged, honeyed, petrolly aroma; dry, powerful, good acidity, long. Nice!
Bründlmayer GV Alte Reben 2001 -
KamptalI heard some complaints about too much sulfur. I didn't find excessive amounts though this was a bit of a funkier style of GV with some wet wool and again that lovely, fresh green pea aromas. Quite concentrated and acidic, but not too rich. Finishes very fresh. I really liked this though it divided opinions.
Bründlmayer GV Alte Reben 2002 -
KamptalAromatically much like the 2001 except weaker in every respect: not quite as intense, not light but still a little watery on the finish.
Bründlmayer GV Alte Reben 2006 -
KamptalVery primary and sweet fruit; very ripe, hot year character, but amazingly still has adequate acidity. It's not bad, but I did feel it was a bit diffuse and didn't quite have the delineation I hope to see.
Bründlmayer GV Alte Reben 2007 -
KamptalAromatically much like the 2006 so I was a afraid this would be another wine flirting with flabbiness. And it was rich, but gladly it also had that extra bit of acidity that kept it rather moreish. But it is extremely primary, so hold.
Weingut Osberger GV Spätlese 1947 -
Kremstal (Langenlois)Clearly old wine aromas, but not dead. Far from it IMO. It was a gentle, calm wine but had some apricot and tea aromas - but, to be frank, these were all more old wine aromas than anything that could be described as typical for GV; it was fully dry with good acidity. I found it both intriguing and very tasty. Some did find it too old.
Weingut Osberger GV Spätlese 1969 -
Kremstal (Langenlois)Really lovely green pea and honey and spice aromas - a mature wine, but one that is very obviously GV. It becomes very savoury and malty with longer exposure to air but remains wonderful. A sweet-savoury palate with fairly soft acidity but enough freshness to keep this very moreish. Incredible. And it seems like there's no hurry (with this bottle at least).
Weinkeller Kirchmayer GV Strasser Sandgrube 1981Corked.
FX Pichler GV "M" 1999 -
WachauM = Monumental. And this is a pretty monumental wine: spicy, floral, painfully young, massive and concentrated. Give this 20 years? It is a hugely impressive wine but I do wonder how this will work in a proper setting (i.e. with me drinking more than a tiny tasting sample).
Prager GV Beerenauslese Weissenkirchen Achleiten Wachstum Bodenstein 1998And finally a sweetie to finish the tasting. The smell is almost absurdly botrytised and has a lot of copper and green pea aromas. Sweet, only moderate in acidity so not terribly intense; yet the finish is very persistent. Nice!
I don't drink wine because of religious reasons ... only for other reasons.