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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 93.9 pts. and median of 94 pts. in 17 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by salil on 4/12/2024 & rated 97 points: Incredible wine, one of the most thrilling experiences I've had with dry Riesling. The sense of lightness is hard to put into words here. It has a lightness of touch and a weightlessness that reminds me of great, classic Mosel Kabinett, even though it has the alcohol levels of a dry Riesling. There's an intense stony mineral character here, fresh green verdant and herbal scents, and a core of pale citrus and pear fruit beneath that plays a supporting role to the mineral and herbal/floral notes. The balance is impeccable and it still feels very fresh and quite youthful - I'm glad I have a couple left, but it'll take some effort to not open another one soon given how good this was. (148 views) | | | Tasted by glou.sf on 9/8/2019 & rated 94 points: Interesting to try this again. Apricot, orange blossoms, and a hint of petrol on the fragrant nose. Medium acidity, with flavors of oranges, ripe apricots, and orange peel on the palate. Very nice finish. (768 views) | | | Tasted by coremill on 8/30/2019 & rated 87 points: I found this disappointing. Classic flavor profile, medium weight, but too soft, lacking structure and acidity. (856 views) | | | Tasted by salil on 6/3/2019 & rated 95 points: Spectacular. The fruit has calmed down some since its youth, and the mineral and herbal flavours are more apparent now, along with the start of lightly savoury creamy and smoky notes. The sense of sheer lightness and vibrancy on the palate that I recall from its youth have not changed a bit, and this is absolutely thrilling to sit and follow right now. (1214 views) | | | Tasted by afot on 11/5/2018: Dark golden, really intense pterol note. A bit alcoholic and lacking some acidity. Drink up. (678 views) | | | Tasted by glou.sf on 8/18/2018 & rated 93 points: Stone fruit, petrol, dried apricot, and orange blossom on the nose. Great balance with orange peel, citrus, peach, and a hint of honey flavors on the palate. Long finish. Wife: 91 (931 views) | | | Tasted by brooklynguy on 10/11/2016: Great showing. My co-drinker, not knowing what it was when I gave her a glass, said "this smells like a garden that I want to be in right now." Expressive on the palate too, and with good focus and balance. Delicious wine. (1807 views) | | | Tasted by edman on 10/13/2014 & rated 94 points: Needed time to develop. Minerals, lemon curd and herbal on the end. (1634 views) | | | Tasted by Alex Kohse on 5/29/2013: Alzinger's Steinertal is high up on my short list of wines that don't ever disappoint me. When they're young they can take a long time to open up, but planning accordingly (double decanted before I left for work this morning) yields consistently awesome wine experiences.
The aromatic depth of this is really impressive. Stoney mineral, orchard fruit and a cool herbal component play off of each other. The palate is deftly balanced, with good body, well-integrated acidity and a long, satisfying finish. (2790 views) | | | Tasted by Alex Kohse on 1/25/2013 & rated 94 points: Tremendous complexity on the smokey, herbal, stony nose. Mysterious and invigorating. The palate has weight and depth, but is the polar opposite of heavy-handed. It is incredibly elegant and full of peach and a brooding, enticing minerality. The acidity is quite ripe and frames the fruit perfectly. No issues at all with heat on the long, somehow firm but gentle finish. Even though this is serious wine (and serious YOUNG wine at that), this is very drinkable with a few hours of air. Looking forward to day two! (2405 views) | | | Tasted by salil on 5/29/2012 & rated 94 points: Mostly 1985 horizontal (Locanda Verde, NYC): Compelling as ever, though this really needs a lot of air to show its nuances. At first it's all fresh citrus and pear fruit over a mineral base, but with time it really unravels to show more green/herbal dimensions with the mineral character becoming even more vivid. There's a lightness and delicate touch I rarely find in other Austrian Rieslings, great balance and tremendous length - I reckon this will be something really stunning with time. (3011 views) | | | Tasted by salil on 4/20/2012 & rated 94 points: Another great bottle. An incredibly vivid expression of minerality; stones and mineral salts around a core of pure, fresh citrus and pear fruits with a gentle herbal seasoning, conveyed with Alzinger's usual sense of clarity and lightness of touch. Phenomenal. (2134 views) | | | Tasted by bpj87 on 1/15/2012 & rated 94 points: Bacchanal at St. Chauncy; 1/15/2012-1/16/2012 (Cambridge, MA): The nose just exudes the manna of the universe; the terroir transmits infinity. Its substance attempts to eat away at your tongue while dancing in its sizable jagged shoes. An invigorating icy rush of mint, lime, bitter orange, ginger, rain, and some herbal hints on the nose. The palate possesses a nearly salt-free minerality, giving the wine its breadth. Seemless, it is weightless and cleansing. Rainforest greens and herbs on the V-shaped finish. This wine conjures up an image of a verdant waterfall in the semi-darkness of the forest. We drank this wine over two days, and on the second day it was a very different wine. While on the first night it impressed with its tight and slightly wound-up tension, on the second night it seemed somehow more mature and integrated, as the component lines blur into a unified whole far greater than its parts. It is firmly dry, quite acidic, and bursting with intense minerality. While this wine may not be for everybody, those who like this style of grand cru Austrian Riesling should find this an excellent experience. (2251 views) | | | Tasted by Keith Levenberg on 9/14/2011 & rated 94 points: Steinertal Vertical (Seasonal): Exceptionally fresh and pretty scent like a field of spring greenery. Impressively detailed, with that pixellated textural sensation that gets more and more jagged as it sits in the glass. (2973 views) | | | Tasted by salil on 9/14/2011 & rated 97 points: Steinertals at Seasonal (Seasonal, NYC): A wow from the first sip, and it only gets better with air, conveying pale fruit seasoned by fresh minty and herbal elements and a powerful stoniness beneath that builds with air. There's a sense of incredible freshness, purity and clarity to the flavours, remarkable depth of flavour and an incredible lightness of touch that's a huge contrast with the more heavy-handed Pichler. (2638 views) |
| Alzinger Producer website
Leo Alzinger is located in Unterloiben, just across the street from Knoll. Leo owns parcels in two of the great vineyards in this part of the river valley: Loibenberg and Steinertal. Loibenberg is a towering, terraced hillside, while the diminutive (5.5 hectare) Steinertal is hidden and maintains a cooler micro-climate. On the terraced vineyards of both sites, riesling is cultivated on the higher, more primary rock rich parcels while grüner veltliner is cultivated on the lower, silty, loess based parcels.
Harvest at Alzinger happens later than some of Leo’s neighbors in Unterloiben, something he attributes to old vines and the specific exposition of his parcels. The extra time on the vine doesn’t increase sugar levels, Leo says, but rather pushes physiological ripeness to greater balance. Alzinger crushes whole cluster with a short maceration, then allows the must to settle for 24 hours, dropping any green tannins out. Tasting the wines next to some of the other Wachau greats, it becomes apparent that elegance and pristine fruit is what Leo looks for in winemaking, rather than opulence. Alzinger’s wines are never forceful or assertive; they are instead amazingly sanguine and calmly transparent. Terry says “You wouldn’t be surprised if the cellar master was the Dali Lama”.
Vineyard area: 11 hectares
Top sites: Loibenberg, Steinertal, Liebenberg
Soil types: Eroded primary rock, sandy soils with loam
Grape varieties: 55% Grüner Veltliner, 40% Riesling, 5% ChardonnayRiesling Varietal character (Appellation America) | A short history of Riesling (Uncork) | Riesling (wikipedia)Smaragd Wikipedia about Smaragd (german)
Google translation in English of the German Wikipedia about Smagard
From what I understand, these wines (very ripe, dry, late-harvest, etc.) were going to be designated Honivogl (after a kind of bird found in or near the vineyards, meaning 'honey bird'. However, the Honivogl family was involved in the wine trade in Austria and objected that this would cause confusion and weakening of their trademark. Another creature was therefore selected (the green lizard called Smaragd) to be the mascot (sort of ) for this kind of wine in the Wachau. Source: Dr. Peter Ruhrberg, Saarbrücken, personal communication, 9/2007. jhtSteinertalSteinertal
Facts:
Town:Steinertal
Insolation in hours per year:2087
Size in ha:5,61Terraced vineyard:Yes
Aspect:South
Slope gradient:Up to 64 %
Altitude:231 - 298 m
Description
Seen from the east, the Steinertal is the first steep vineyard of the wine region. The view also reveals the trench character of this vineyard, as suggested by the old name "Steingraben" (stony trench), forming an amphitheatre with an open view of the winescape of the Wachau region.
Soil profile

The geological substratum of the Steinertal vineyard is entirely composed of carbonate-free, acidic Gföhl gneiss (orthogneiss). The glacial loess cover has long been eroded, so that carbonate minerals such as calcite and dolomite (""limestone"") are only found in very low concentrations in the soil.
The topsoil is sandy, meagre and low in humus. At a pH level of 7.5, the soil falls within the weakly alkaline range.
The native Gföhl gneiss is already marked by weathering. The surfaces are coated with reddish-brown iron oxides. Cracks and joints are filled with fine, washed-in soil material. The vine roots penetrate deep into the rock through these cracks.
On weinlagen-infoAustria Wein aus Österreich (Österreichischen Weinmarketinggesellschaft) | Austrian Wine Classifications (Winemonger.com)Niederösterreich Weinstraße Niederösterreich
Lower Austria Wine Region
Lower Austria isn't "southern" Austria, but rather northeastern. It derives its name from its downriver location on the Danube River, which flows from west to east.Wachau Official tourism website
on weinlagen-info |
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