Wachau - fine wines from the difficult 2014 vintage, and some other treasures
Tasted Monday, September 14, 2015 - Friday, September 18, 2015 by honest bob with 306 views
Introduction
It was a privilege to visit these three celebrated wine makers. Despite 2014 being a very difficult vintage the astonishing quality of the wines from F.X. Pichler shone out. Rudi Pichler also produced excellent results. The Knoll wines might possibly improve with cellaring - they have strong acidity and enough stuffing, but they're not a lot of fun right now.
As ever, I tend to under-score when tasting away from home and drinking out of unfamiliar glasses, so my ratings may well be too conservative.
Flight 1 - Rudi Pichler, Wösendorf (8 Notes)
Mr. Rudi Pichler was graphic in his descriptions of the 2014 harvest - some wines required 14 (fourteen!) separate pickings. The results are excellent, however, in a typically big style – bigger than F.X. (and perhaps lacking a little of the finesse), and much bigger than Knoll. All three 2014 Smaragds were starting to close up, so I wouldn't advise opening a bottle until late 2016 at the very earliest. Mr. Pichler confirmed my suspicions by stating that he is currently just starting to drink his 2005 Smaragds: These superlative wines can improve for over a decade after bottling, so the 2011 GV SM Hochrain (tasted in Vienna several days earlier) and the two 2012 GV SMs tasted in Wösendorf were not showing at anything near maturity.
Flight 2 - F.X. Pichler, Unterloiben (5 Notes)
As others have noted, visiting F.X. is not exactly a cuddly experience. Information is not given readily. Let alone smiles. But boy, the wines are fabulous...
Flight 3 - Weingut Knoll, Unterloiben (4 Notes)
What a lovely winery, what wonderful people (not to mention the food and drink on offer in the tremendous Knoll family restaurant across the road). Unfortunately, 2014 really wasn't the best year here.
2014 Rudi Pichler Grüner Veltliner Federspiel 86 Points
Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau
(9/17/2015)
Scent of stony white fruit, hint of yellow plum; lively minerality on the entry; a bit shallow and short on the finish. 85-87P?
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2014 Rudi Pichler Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Ried Kollmütz 89 Points
Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau
(9/17/2015)
Aromatically closed. Bitter marzipan and remarkable tannic-like grip on the entry; soft, fat mid-palate. 88-90P?
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2014 Rudi Pichler Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Wösendorfer Hochrain 90 Points
Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau
(9/17/2015)
Aromatically closed. Dramatic honeydew melon on the entry; nice balance of mid-palate minerality with lively acid on the shortish, mineral finish. The most forward and immediately attractive of the three 2014 Grüner Veltliner Smaragds tasted today. 89-91P?
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2014 Rudi Pichler Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Achleithen 91 Points
Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau
(9/17/2015)
Aromatically closed. The softest entry of the three 2014 Grüner Veltliner Smaragds tasted today —mellow, almost sweet. Expressive mid-palate (passion fruit and peach); long finish. A class act. 89-92P?
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2007 Rudi Pichler Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Ried Kollmütz 91 Points
Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau
(9/17/2015)
Gorgeous ripe white fruit and a touch of caramel on the nose; the entry shows marked acidity, joined by an attractive bitter touch on the mid-palate; honeyed finish, very long. 91P
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2012 Rudi Pichler Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Wösendorfer Hochrain 92 Points
Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau
(9/17/2015)
Explosive scent merges seamlessly with the entry: honey/tropical fruit, some yellow plum, strong acidity, candied pineapple. Very long, resonantly mineral finish. A stunner now, should continue to open up for several years. 92P
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2012 Rudi Pichler Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Achleithen 92 Points
Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau
(9/17/2015)
Aromatically closed after the up-front 2012 Hochrain Smaragd; hints of passion fruit and mango on the entry; more mango on the soft, low-acid mid-palate; acidic crescendo after a few seconds to the still-short finish. All this needs is 3-5 more years bottle age. 90-93P
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2011 Rudi Pichler Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Wösendorfer Hochrain 91 Points
Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau
(9/14/2015)
From 75cl, perfect cork. P+P in a restaurant in Vienna. Infanticide, of course, but even at age 4 this baby GV shows its class in a kind of glacier-like, monolothic, sledgehammer way. Closed down tight aromatically; star fruit and melon on the entry; massive minerality dominates the mid-palate; very long finish with emerging resonance and some nice acidic flashes. I think this will be a real stunner in 5-10 years time. 91P
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