Gruner Veltliner question

^ Wachau

Schreiberberg is not one of Jamek's classic bottlings, his flagships being Achleiten (for Veltliner) and Klaus (for Riesling). But being a smaragd I would really be confident.

Superb vintage, definitely not old (if stored cool, of course). Smaragds have to be dry, btw. "Dry" in the EU sense, which means a maximum of 9 g/l (0.9 percent) of residual sugar.

M.

Thanks for the info. I plan on letting it sit for a month and then giving it a try.

I was looking at another one - Grüner Veltliner 'Smaragd' 2001 Wachau, Freie Weingartener Wachau.

Does anyone have any info on this one? Michael?

Hi Bill,

I'm definitely no Michael, but I've had good experience with Freie Weingärtner Wachau's 2001 Riesling Smaragd. I'd suppose the Grüner Veltliner will be good as well.

FWIW, the Freie Weingärtner Wachau are a co-op in the Wachau area. I'd also expect some kind of identification of the origin of the grapes on the label, i.e. "Terrassen Thal Wachau" (or something like that) for a generic Wachau wine or the name of the vineyard for a single vineyard wine. Or maybe the Wachau on the label denotes the generic Wachau area, then.

Cheers,

-Topi Kuusinen, Finland

I am not aware of FWW Smaragd bottlings without any further mention, and I guess this is "Terrassen Thal Wachau". Which, as you rightly point out, is really no more than generic Wachau (except that it says that it has been harvested from terraces).

M.

Sorry, it appears to be: Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Trocken Wachau Achleiten Domäne Wachau 2001

Is that better? Our Canadian liquor boards seem to have trouble getting all of the description into a catalogue!

Of course it is! "Achleiten" is one of the best vineyard sites in the Wachau, situated in Weißenkirchen, givin rieslings of exceptional depth *and* finesse, while the grüners quite often can show a hint of "sauvage". For me, "Achleiten" probably is *the* quintessential vineyard site of the region.

Always the same around the world with anything except top Bordeaux, Super-Tuscans, and Grange.

M.