2012 Riesling Loibner Loibenberg Smaragd

A ravishing nose mingles high-toned floral essences with intimations of the ripe pear shadowed by poire distillate, honeydew, and Persian melon that lusciously inform the polished palate of Pichlers’ 2012 Riesling Smaragd Loibenberg. There is a faintly mealy, diffuse finish here, lacking the clarity or complex interplay of flavors that characterized the best wines of the present collection. That said, this is impressively persistent, and the nose and mid-palate are already well worth the price of admission. I would tentatively plan to enjoy this through 2020. “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