Grüner Veltliner Tradition, Schloss Gobelsburg

Virker moden og drikkeklar med en venlig bund af sødmefuld frugt, en rank note af citrus, et fint, elegant mineralsk touch, på én gang lagdelt og læskende. Kan sagtens ligge, men den smager godt nu. - Niels Lillelund

Tons of candied citrus of all types and an exiting balance of mature fruit with subtle tannins, creaminess and acidity that lifts the long, powerful and layered finish. Matured for 18 month in large, neutral oak, as was the norm 50-100 years ago.

This product of Moosbrugger’s empathetic investigation into the principles and methods that prevailed at Schloss Gobelsburg in the early to mid-20th century (as detailed by me in past Vinous reports) has once again resulted in a wine of elusive and rarified complexity such as you aren’t likely to experience in the early 21st century anywhere other than at the Wachau’s Nikolaihof. Alkaline, mossy, and roasted root vegetable aromas anticipate the flavors to come. Hints of mint, verbena and iris waft coolingly across a satin-textured palate, adding a high-toned layer to a complex performance marvelously transparent to a shimmering array of nuances. The finish here offers a rarefied variation on the peppery and stony impingements that characterized the corresponding “regular” 2014 Renner bottling, along with a striking evocation of raw scallop, its sweet-saline, iodine-tinged savor setting the salivary glands palpitating. - David Schildknecht

Coming from a highly underrated vintage, the golden-yellow colored 2014 Grüner Veltliner Tradition offers a clear, fresh and spicy as well as aromatic bouquet of ripe and concentrated (stone) fruits intermixed with herbal and smoky crushed stone aromas. There is great first maturity already that is so irresistibly inviting! Sourced from 50+-year-old vines on the loess and sand soils in the Renner, this is a highly elegant, fresh, piquant and transparent Veltliner with a well-structured, long and salty finish. Given the aromas of Turkish honey, popcorn and almonds as well as the lingering salinity and great elegance, there is a lot of Chablis character here although this Veltliner is more crystalline in style. Its finish is piquant and salty and tickling the palate. This is a gorgeous white and one of my very favorites I have tasted this year from this producer. - Stephan Reinhardt

Helles Gelbgrün, Silberreflexe. Mit feinen Gewürznuancen unterlegte reife gelbe Apfelfrucht, Anklänge von Anis, Quitten, facettenreiches Bukett. Saftig, elegant, der lebendige Säurebogen wird von feiner Fruchtsüße ausbalanciert, weißer Pfeffer im Abgang, ein toller Speisenbeleiter.

This latest---indeed, greatest--in Michael Moosbrugger’s memorable ongoing series of explorations into how and why his mid-20th century predecessors and their forebears “raised” wine, was to have been bottled this summer for autumn release. But Moosbrugger was away when I returned to Austria in September and I was unable to obtain a bottle, so for now I present my May 2015 notes from cask. Faintly yeasty and alkaline notes in the nose accompany intimations of the rich, earthy, umami-laden foundation of subtly caramelized root vegetables that the palate delivers, studded with peppercorns and drizzled with fragrant floral honey. Satiny in texture, searchingly expansive, yet buoyant and preserving a vibrant core of sheer refreshment, this enters a finishing realm of oyster liquor-like salinity, oceanic mineral and seaweedy depth, that will milk your salivary glands while leaving your mouth agape. (Any embarrassment will be well worth it.) - David Schildknecht