2013 Wiener Gemischter Satz DAC Nussberg

Tank-rendered from a field blend of Pinot Blanc, Neuburger, Welschriesling, Grüner Veltliner, Sylvaner, Zierfandler, Rotgipfler, Traminer and Riesling, this September bottling delivers an explosively aromatic and invigoratingly piquant impression of pip- and pit-tinged pear and peach further accented with anise, celery seed, smoky black tea and white pepper. There is a background suggestive of greenhouse-like scents, Normandy pear cider fruitiness and chalk. Full (at 14.5% alcohol) and expansive, this nevertheless proves almost infinitely juicy, finishing with superb grip, animation and clarity and no trace of heat. (The strikingly mineral but surprisingly less succulent 2012 is lovely today, while the long-celebrated, now faintly Chablis-like 2005, also retasted alongside the 2013, displays encroaching old-wine tones. So I wouldn’t defer the pleasure of enjoying this 2013 soon and doubt it will be notably long-lived.)