2012 Gruner Veltliner Loibner Klostersatz Federspiel

Though harvested around the end of September and in the context of a concerted effort to achieve moderate alcohol, at 12.5% the Pichler 2012 Gruner Veltliner Federspiel Klostersatz is on the border of what would when that name was introduced in1987 have qualified – just – as Smaragd, and made a vintner happy he could announce that on the label. Pungent notes of herbs and lentil sprout translate into a sappy, nutty-vegetal palate presence combining palpable density with considerable buoyancy on a soothingly silken palate. Smoky black tea, crushed stone, and saliva-liberating salinity add to the interest, invigoration and mouthwatering savor of a sustained finish. Lucas Pichler attributes both the surprising degree of levity and the extra measure of depth here vis-a-vis the corresponding Frauenweingarten bottling to the advantages of gravel versus sand. That having been noted and credited, I’m bound to say that the “sandy” Frauenweingarten displays levity, exuberance and charm of its own when one returns to it from a tasting of its ostensible betters. Plan to enjoy this Klostersatz through 2017. “In recent years,” notes Lucas Pichler, “we’ve been harvesting a little earlier in order to depress the alcohol levels a bit,” which in 2012 meant among other things beginning with Gruner Veltliner Federspiel already in the third week of September. After what I had tasted thus far of the vintage, I was amazed to find the Rieslings here in aggregate even finer than the Gruner Veltliners, a pattern that was to be dramatically accentuated at nearby Alzinger. (I did not get chance on my most recent visit to catch-up with Pichlers’ Sauvignon Blanc from this vintage.) Importer: Weygandt-Metzler Importing, Unionville, PA; tel. (610) 486-0700