1996 Freie Weingärtner Wachau / Domäne Wachau Riesling Smaragd Achleiten

Community Tasting Notes (4) Avg Score: 92.3 points

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  4/9/2021 - Ben Christiansen wrote:

  A touch smoky on it as well. Also with a little bit of petrol to it. And then that harsh bitter acrid note to it. Scott notes that it tastes really good.

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  3/20/2021 - Volleyball wrote: 93 Points

  Lovely treat for the first Saturday of spring.
  
  Color of a pirate's treasure chest and aroma that sings with the angels.
  
  The latter is a wonderful mix of honey, yellow flowers, clementine, honeydew melon, petroleum and a little bit or rosemary and flint. I know that is an awful lot of descriptors, but I could really just inhale it all day without even drinking.
  
  The flavor, while very good, is actually a little bit of a let-own after the aroma. Still has high acidity and quite a lot of fruit - clementine dominated, although that fruit tastes a little "unripe" with the help of the petrol, olive oil and herbal flavors. Quite a bit of minerality. Surprisingly full body for a riesling. Finish is medium-medium plus.

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  8/16/2019 - forceberry wrote: 95 Points

  13% alcohol, 3 g/l residual sugar and 8,8 g/l acidity. Tasted half blind.
  
  Quite concentrated golden yellow color. Rich, complex and obviously developed yet not old nose with intense aromas of juicy and still relatively youthful stone fruits, some flint smoke, a little bit of mango, light honeyed tones, a sweet yet herbal hint of dill and a touch of gunpowder smoke. Contrasting the concentrated nose, the wine is remarkably fresh and lean on the palate with medium body, bracing acidity and intense flavors of tart green apples, some developed nuttiness, a little bit of reductive flint smoke, light bruised pear tones, aged hints of creaminess and a touch of stony minerality. Although the age has made the mouthfeel quite oily, the racy acidity keeps the wine very light on its feet. The persistent finish is crisp, fresh and lively with somewhat lean and very acid-driven flavors of chalky bitterness, tart green apples, some tangy salinity, a little bit of sharp lemony citrus fruits, a hint of developed honeyed richness and a touch of nuttiness.
  
  An outstanding, crisp and remarkably precise Riesling that is in exceptional shape still at 23 years of age. The wine certainly shows some developed characteristics, but it nevertheless wonderfully fresh and lively with very precise and surprisingly lean fruit, all wrapped around a cold, steely mineral core that is so typical of Wachau Riesling. Although the wine is at Smaragd ripeness, it tastes nothing like those super-ripe, massively concentrated blockbuster Rieslings that are all the rage now. Beautiful stuff; although drinking remarkably well now, I wouldn't be surprised if the wine continued to develop even further from here in a cellar. Priced according to its quality at 54,99€.

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  2/7/2019 - Henman Likes this wine: 89 Points

  Popped and aired a bit during 2 hours. Cork was in good shape. Deep golden yellow in the glass. The nose seemed to change a little, settling towards mango and peach aromas with some fading mineral notes. Medium bodied, dry with a subtle oxidized sherry aspect on the palate. Yellow stone fruit, peach and mango flavors emerging as well. Some mineral (petrol) notes that faded. Got better with more airing. Still very good after all these years.

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