Elementar Grüner Veltliner 2016, Herbert Zillinger

Herbert Zillingers grüner veltliner-vine fra Z-serien er noget for sig. Det gælder ikke mindst Elementar; Intens, ren og kompleks vin holdt på de meget beskedne 11,5 volt. Elementar har fået ca. en uges skindkontakt. Denne 2016’er står stadig med skarpe pressefolder. Frisk, pirrende næse, der oser af hvid te med kvæde, altheabolsje, bivoks, mandarinskal og halmballe. Stadig saftig og letløbende smag, harmonisk tør, fin stramhed og et lækkert tryk midt på tungen, der trækker smagen godt igennem og slutter med et dejligt fast bid fra taninerne. - Morten Bundgaard

Selection of grapes with the highest physiological ripeness and at the same time the lowest sugar ripeness from the poorest part of the Vogelsang vineyard. 'The idea is to make a wine with alcoholic lightness and at the same time enormous extract and complexity.' The grapes were lightly fermented, pressed, and matured in large wood with permanent micro-oxidation on yeast lees for two years. The wine was matured in bottle for another year and is now on sale. Very deep golden copper colour. Wild and almost sour. Pretty extreme! I would imagine this would go down well in a natural wine bar. Long and intense – remarkably so for a wine with such low alcohol. Apple skins and spices. Lots of excitement and energy here but far from conventional. - Jancis Robinson MW

Zillinger's 2016 Grüner Veltliner Elementar is a selection of Vogelsang grapes with the highest physiological ripeness but also the lowest sugar level. After pressing the fermenting grapes, the must was vinified in large oak casks for two years before bottling, and the bottled wine was kept in the winery for another 12 months. Intensely golden and almost orange in color, the wine opens with a deep, pure, intense and concentrated, very elegant and complex bouquet of ripe fruits, crushed stones and spices. Full-bodied, complex and with serious phenolic grip, this is an expressive, elegant and pure white with structure, finesse and character. The finish is tight and fresh, stimulatingly salty and promising. This is a long-distance runner of class and style. - Stephan Reinhardt

The 2015 Grüner Veltliner Elementar is sourced from the poorest part of the Vogelsang, and the graders harvested with the lowest sugar ripeness but the highest extract levels. Macerated for roughly five days, the orange-yellow colored wine was vinified in a 1,000-liter acacia vat for almost two years and bottled in late summer 2017. It comes along as a full-bodied and spicy wine with ripe yet delicate and very elegant and juicy fruit and a long, pure and fresh finish. This is white wine kissing the character of Pinot Noir in terms of texture and structure. Very long and intense, a stunning wine with lush fruit that I'd like to follow over the years. Tea flavors in the aftertaste. Highly interesting. - Stephan Reinhardt

Leuchtendes Goldgelb, Silberreflexe. Mit einem Hauch von Nougat unterlegte reife Tropenfruchtnuancen, fast rotbeeriger Touch, facettenreiches Bukett. Feine gelbe Frucht, angenehme Würze, leichtfüßig und sehr gut anhaftend, mineralisch, straff, sehr anregend, feine nussige Aromatik im Rückgeschmack. - Peter Moser

Inaugurated with this vintage, “Elementar represents a selection of the aromatically ripest grapes we can achieve at the lowest must weight,” explained Herbert Zillinger. These weren’t picked until late October, yet the finished wine – raised in large acacia cask with extended lees contact – harbors a mere 11.5 percent alcohol. To make clear their intentions – not to mention recoup the costs of painstaking picking – the Zillingers have priced this at the top end of their lineup. Caramelized turnip, parsnip and fennel are tinged with thyme on a nose that suggests what follows will prove sweetly ripe and full-bodied. But the palate, while capturing comparable root vegetable flavors, is rich in a marrowy, non-fruity way, shockingly buoyant and loaded with mouthwateringly saline savor reminiscent of oyster liquor. I’m betting (as are its authors) that this 2014 will merit long-term following from bottle. The Zillingers’ intention is to render an “Elementar” bottling on a regular basis, though they acknowledge that it probably won’t often manage to stay this low in alcohol. - David Schildknecht

Not aggressively 'orange' but a very deep straw colour – almost brownish copper colour. Very rich and dense on the nose. Some suggestion of bitter marmalade on the nose. Then pretty chewy on the end. Something a bit sour. Very distinctive and long, but it's certainly unlike most Austrian whites! Definitely needs food but I could imagine it being a good partner to some foods – charcuterie? - Jancis Robinson