Wine & Spirits - April 2020 - 118

YEAR'S BEST AUSTRIAN WINES
89 | Glatzer

$14

2018 Carnuntum Grüner Veltliner (Best
Buy) ^ This is earthy and reserved, a delicate
veltliner with notes of white pepper and
chestnut cream. It's impressively elegant
for the price. § Terry Theise Selections/Skurnik
Wines & Spirits, NY
276614

88 | Schloss Gobelsburg

$16

2018 Kamptal Grüner Veltliner (Best Buy) ^
This packs a lot in for $16, its smooth, firm
texture giving the herbal, lemon-lime flavors
a sense of fullness. It's simple and satisfying,
a terrific by-the-glass pour. § Terry Theise Selections/Skurnik Wines & Spirits, NY
276605

87 | Berger

$14/L

2018 Austria Grüner Veltliner (Best Buy) ^
This is straight-ahead grüner veltliner, green
in its pea and herbal notes, silky in its texture.
It's light and easy, and well-priced for summer drinking. § Terry Theise Selections/Skurnik
Wines & Spirits, NY
276271

87 | Dürnberg

$16

87 | Stadt Krems

$16

2018 Weinviertel Falkenstein Grüner
Veltliner (Best Buy) ^ Spritzy and bright,
this plump veltliner is ripe and golden in
its fruit flavors, with Meyer lemon and tangerine notes that clean up fast. § Massanois
Imports, NY
275789
2018 Kremstal Grüner Veltliner (Best
Buy) ^ This needs air to get past its reductive
tones; then the dense lentil-like flavors turn
toward yellow apple and a hint of whitepepper bitterness. For a pork chop. § Craft +
Estate/Winebow Imports, NY
276772

86 | Forstreiter

$14

2018 Niederösterreich Grooner Grüner
Veltliner (Best Buy) ^ Sweet green-grape
flavors meet pink-peppercorn spice in this
clean, easy grüner. § Monika Caha Selections/
Frederick Wildman & Sons, NY

NEUBURGER
276623

90 | Nikolaihof

$40

2018 Wachau Neuburger ^ Nikolaihof was
the first Demeter-certified biodynamic winery, back in 1971. Whether it's the farming
or the general attitude of the estate, which
includes one of the area's best restaurants, its
wines always stand out among their Wachau
brethren for their quiet warmth. This wine,
from the normally neutral-tasting neuburger, fits that spirit: It smells like a garden
in summer, of warm air, herbs and honeysuckle; it tastes of barely ripe peaches and
118

WINE & SPIRITS

APRIL 2020

tarragon, with a gentle, oily texture. The flavors are pretty and lasting, an inviting match
for pork with a stone-fruit relish. § Terry Theise
Selections/Skurnik Wines & Spirits, NY

ORANGETRAUBE
276151

90 | Zahel

$22

2018 Wien Orange T ^ Made from orangetraube, a rare variety that normally disappears into the mix that makes up Gemischter Satz wines, this lives up to its name in
its orange-blossom scents and tangerine flavors. A button-mushroom fruitiness fills out
the wine's waxy breadth, rich enough to pair
with citrus-marinated chicken. § Winemonger
Imports, San Anselmo, CA

PINOT BL ANC
276563

92 | Prieler

$42

2017 Leithaberg Pinot Blanc ^ Georg Prieler organically farms 49 acres of vines in
the Leithaberg hills, his pinot blanc parcels
mostly on limestone. He macerated this
fruit for three days before pressing, then let
it spontaneously ferment and age in 500-liter
wooden barrels. The result is a big, spicy wine,
golden in its fruit flavors, with a cashew-like
broadness running underneath. That rich
underpinning holds the flavors strong: They
could meet a scallop in brown butter headon. § Terry Theise Selections/Skurnik Wines &
Spirits, NY

PINOT GRIS
276105

90 | Wenzel

$40

2018 Burgenland Wild + Free Pinot Gris ^
Organically farmed, fermented on the skins
with ambient yeasts and bottled with less
than 15 milligrams of sulfur, this is indeed
wild: A dark rosé hue, the wine tastes both
earthy and refreshing in its notes of cranberries and sour plums, hibiscus tea and sumac.
A burr of tannins gives it grip, while the flavors remain airy and clean. § Winemonger
Imports, San Anselmo, CA

RIESLING
276074

95 | Jurtschitsch

$37

2017 Kamptal Ried Heiligenstein Riesling ^ Alwin Jurtschitsch took over his family's winery with his wife, Stefanie Hasselbach, in 2006; the two set about converting
the vineyards to organic viticulture, and to
higher-density plantings. She makes the
wines, favoring ambient yeast fermentations
and minimal sulfur additions. Heiligenstein
is one of their most prized sites, the vines

rooted into an outcropping of stone that's
some 250 thousand years old. Aged on the
fine lees in 2,000-liter casks before bottling,
this is a massive wine, belting out its rieslingness in bell tones of litchi and lime, peaches
and spice. It feels pure and precise, just at the
beginning of its life. § David Bowler Wines, NY
276323

93 | Sighardt Donabaum

$41

93 | Prager

$75

93 | Winzer Krems

$32

92 | Salomon-Undhof

$53

91 | Josef Fischer

$20

2013 Osterreich Brandstatt Riesling ^ Now
seven years old, this late release has taken
on caramel tones that add richness without
masking the wine's complexity. The acidity
remains tangy, highlighting notes of lime,
ginger and herbs; the earthy scents tend
toward cedar and florals, delicate and fresh.
The flavors last, mellow and charming, with
enough verve to handle Vietnamese fish in
caramel sauce. § Vignaioli Selection, NY
275755
2018 Wachau Klaus Riesling Smaragd ^
Klaus is a vertiginously steep slope right next
to Achleiten; Prager's parcel was planted in
1952. Those old vines produced an intense
riesling in 2018-meaty and dense with
grapefruit and ginger flavors bound tight by
saline minerality. The wine relaxes as it opens
in the glass, showing a little peachy juiciness;
cellar it if you prefer more generous flavors.
Otherwise, bring on the oysters and enjoy. §
Craft + Estate/Winebow Imports, NY
275858
2017 Kremstal Pfaffenberg Reserve Riesling ^ The Pfaffenberg spills over the border
of Kremstal into the Wachau, a steep parcel
of gneiss, sand and gravel in Stein. This wine
incorporates both the sunny, creamy richness typical of Kremstal fruit with the leaner,
more mineral-driven Wachau style, culminating in a concentrated yet elegant mouthful of
flavor. Tuck this away for another few years
to integrate. § Saranty Imports, Stamford, CT
276640
2018 Kremstal Ried Pfaffenberg Reserve
Riesling ^ The Pfaffenberg rises above the
Danube just beyond Stein, where the Salomons tend 50-year-old vines rooted in gneiss
and granite. In 2018, they grew a lean, herbal
riesling, with green-plum fruit and a zesty,
saline edge. Tightly wound, this needs time
in the cellar to relax. § Fruit of the Vine, Long
Island City, NY
276787
2018 Wachau Ried Kirnberg Riesling Federspiel (Best Buy) ^ From an east-facing site
on primary rock, this is a tight, brisk riesling, notes of green peppercorn and lime
Wine & Spirits - April 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - April 2020
