2023 Grüner Veltliner, Smaragd, Achleiten, Prager, Wachau, Austria

2023 Grüner Veltliner, Smaragd, Achleiten, Prager, Wachau, Austria

Product: 20231191963
Prices start from £295.00 per case Buying options
2023 Grüner Veltliner, Smaragd, Achleiten, Prager, Wachau, Austria

Buying options

Available by the case In Bond. Pricing excludes duty and VAT, which must be paid separately before delivery. Storage charges apply.
Case format
Availability
Price per case
6 x 75cl bottle
BBX marketplace BBX 1 case £295.00
You can place a bid for this wine on BBX

Description

With the Ried Achleiten (Grüner), we are onto the single-vineyard wines, and it shows. The vines were planted in the ’50s and ’60s, so there is a real step up in intensity here. The ‘cool’ nose suggests green apple, grapefruit, and lime, but most of the sensation is of stone and fresh mountain air. The palate has more texture than the nose suggests, perhaps because of the 14% alcohol, but the bright acidity effortlessly balances it. Subtle citrus and yellow fruit flow into white pepper, dried herbs, and a grippy, phenolic finish. This serious, gastronomic Ried Achleiten deserves bottle age, but I have no doubt it will be stunning in time.

Drink 2028 - 2038

Edward Richardson, Private Client Manager, Berry Bros. & Rudd

wine at a glance

Delivery and quality guarantee

Critics reviews

Other97/100

Pale green-yellow, silver reflections, inviting yellow apple fruit nuances, a hint of honeydew melon, fresh yellow apple, a hint of meadow herbs, delicately underlain with orange zest, fine mineral touch. Full-bodied, white apple, fine acidity, salty nuances, a powerful food companion with secure certain ageing potential.

Peter Moser, Falstaff.com (July 2024)

Read more
Vinous95/100

The 2023 Grüner Veltliner Ried Achleiten Stockkultur Smaragd is from the middle reaches of the Achleiten and, as the name suggests, from single-stake vines, densely planted in 1937 and dry-farmed. Beautifully aromatic dried moss and some smoky yarrow are subtly spicy and savoury. The palate is super[1]smooth and very fluid. This seems riper and denser, yet that finesse and grace are there, speaking of white pepper. The finish is rounded and smooth on this almost viscous wine. (Dry).

Drink 2028 - 2053

Anne Krebiehl MW, Vinous.com (July 2024)

Read more

About this WINE

Weingut Prager

Weingut Prager

Weingut Prager is run by Toni Bodenstein, son-in-law of Franz Prager and one of the most celebrated winemakers in Austria today. Toni has run the estate for a number of years now and is the foremost authority in the region on the hugely diverse microclimates across the valley. Earnest but very likeable, he has made a minute geological study of this extraordinary terroir. Southfacing and running down to the Danube, his Achleiten vineyard yields both Grüner Veltliner and Riesling from the top Smaragd classification.

In short the wines are incredibly rich but also fresh and crisp. The Grüner Veltliner has a black pepper facet and a steely backbone to frame its feminine charms; the Riesling is farmed from 24 terraces, each one contributing a rich nuance. From the high ground comes the Wachstum Bodenstein Riesling, an undeniably complex beast, perfumed and exotic yet seriously dry and steely; an awakening enigma. With flavours running the gamut and scents of great sensibility, these wines are united by an incredible purity.

Find out more
Wachau

Wachau

The sweeping, steep terraces of the Wachau, in Lower Austria, on the northern banks of the Danube, an hour’s drive west from Vienna, are home to Austria’s greatest dry white wines.  

Here Riesling and Grüner Veltliner excel in producing wines of startling purity and pristine intensity.  The climate changes slightly to produce the warmer, richer wines around Dürnstein and Loiben, to steely yet opulent wines around Spitz.  

Recommended Producers

Toni Bodenstein of Weingut Prager epitomises the former, whilst Franz and Irmgard Hirtzberger’s vineyards are the ultimate expression of the latter.  The region uses a unique system of classification to indicate the level of ripeness at harvest.  Steinfeder is the lightest, with an alcohol of around 10%, then Federspiel, which must not exceed 12% and finally Smaragd, named after an emerald green lizard found in the vineyards, which are assertive, late-harvested wines, but fermented to dryness.

Find out more
Grüner Veltliner

Grüner Veltliner

Grüner Veltliner is Austria's most famous grape variety. It is indigenous to Austria and is grown extensively in every Austrian wine region with the exception of Steiermark. It constitutes 36% of all vineyard plantings with the best wines coming from the north-east of the country, particularly regions such as the Wachau, Kamptal and Kremstal which border the Danube river.

Grüner Veltliner is a late ripening variety that typically produces wines that are pale green in colour and display fruit notes of grapefruits, limes, pears, and sometimes hints of white pepper. They normally possess a steely backbone of acidity which enables the best bottles to age gracefully. The grape's natural acidity accompanied by its restrained and understated fruit characters makes its wines ideal partners for food. A marvellous alternative to the more mainstream white grape varieties.

Find out more