2013 Grüner Veltliner, Dürnsteiner Kellerberg Smaragd, F. X. Pichler
Critics reviews
Stephan Reinhardt - 30/04/2015
About this WINE
Weingut F. X. Pichler
Weingut Franz Xaver Pichler in Dürnstein is a family-run winery based in the Austrian wine region of Wachau. The vineyads consist of 16ha of vines, mainly Grüner Veltliner und Rheinriesling.
Grüne Veltliner M (for Monumental) and the Grüne Veltliner Kellerberg Smaragd are their flagship cuvees, followed by the Rheinrieslinge M, Unendlich and Kellerberg Smaragd. Hugh Johnson described the winery as one of the leading growers in the region of 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.
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.
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Description
The tremendously deep bouquet of Pichler's 2013 Grner Veltliner Smaragd Kellerberg is precise, vegetal and flinty/cool. The wine is a noble, rich, highly elegant and terroir-driven Wachauer signature wine, which reveals its overwhelming power and great expression only in its finish and long, persistent aftertaste. This is, again, an icon wine of the Wachau and the 2013 vintage. A must buy, if you can afford it.
Stephan Reinhardt - 30/04/2015
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