2014 Weingut Willi Bründlmayer Riesling 1o TW Alte Reben Ried Heiligenstein
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Tasting notes
Bründlmayer's 2014 Riesling Zöbinger Ried Heiligenstein Alte Reben 1ÖTW proves impressively that this difficult vintage has been fully underrated by professionals. Willy Bründlmayer would prefer a 2014 or 2016 to the highly appreciated 2015, if he had to go on a desert island and had the choice, as he told me during the tasting in late September 2019. The bouquet displays the obligatory subtle flinty/smoky background, yet here the fruit is not only ripe but also coolish, herbal and precise. The palate is round and elegant and displays a certain sweetness combined with a more phenolic character compared to 2016. The finish is slightly drying but also salty, long and tensioned yet that of a leaner, fine and elegant style. "In 2014, we had to wait very long until the ripeness came," says Bründlmayer. "Botrytis came yet wasn't good enough to be selected for the noble sweet wine categories Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese. Thus, all infected grapes were discharged and cut to the soil." For many years now, Bründlmayer's grands crus are always made from entirely healthy grapes.
Critic scores
Julia Harding MW, jancisrobinson.com
Tamlyn Currin, jancisrobinson.com
More reviews and scores
The 2014 Riesling Zöbinger Heiligenstein Alte Reben is clear, pure and fresh on the nose, and it is more mineral rather than fruity. Straight on the palate, this is a pure and salty Heiligenstein with grip, tension and fine tannins. The lean but well-structured 2014 is a classic and will always be a great but not spectacular wine with food.
Smells like a lovage and lime granita. Very aniseedy. Gorgeous structure, pepper, verbena – the fine bone structure of a wine that is yet to take on flesh. Dignity and stature. It's a wine that made me think of Michelangelo: 'In every block of marble I see a statue as plain as though it stood before me…' (TC)
Bittersweet, herbally pungent floral perfume suggesting gentian and lavender rises from the glass, then wafts through the entire polished performance, while the marine mineral elements so prominent in this estate’s other two Riesling Heiligenstein bottlings here turn in a stonier but no less mouthwateringly savory direction. Pepper and crushed stone impingements along with hazelnut piquancy and cooling mint extend a long finish that preserves primary juiciness of lime, ripe mirabelle and white peach. Weighing in alcoholically between its “Lyra” and “regular” Heiligenstein siblings of the vintage, this strikes a felicitously elegant balance between richness and refreshing animation.