2023 Riesling Achleiten Smaragd

Weissenkirchen. A 21.39-ha outcropping traced with terraces rising from near the water's edge to 361 m in elevation. Multitude of soils and exposures. Certified Sustainable Austria. Clarity is clearly a hallmark of Prager wines but here it's particularly stunning. It feels crystal-clear and quakes with energy, like sunshine turned into wine. The acidity is wiry and driving, drenched in fresh, sweet peachy flavour, the whole feeling electric and energising. Delicious now, this feels like it will last decades. (TQT)

Full bottle 1,257 g. Complex, dense, herbal nose that's much less immediately aromatic than most Rieslings. On the palate, it's much more recognisably varietal, with so much fruit that it tastes as though there’s a little residual sugar. Tightly furled and extremely concentrated. I sense it will repay ageing. Notably persistent. You can almost chew it – surely the grape skins were pretty thick? Already fun and intriguing, it will surely become even more satisfying. (JR)

The 2023 Riesling Achleiten Smaragd has a lovely flinty, smoky note of green moss spreading out into citrus foliage, delicate, serene and bright. The palate is slightly rounder than the nose suggests, adding supple Reine Claude plum flesh and juiciness to the mid-palate, where even pale peach gets a look in. It is very smooth and ripe with pale stone fruit. Finesse becomes apparent on the finish with tingling citrus notions. (Dry)