2013 Riesling Steinertal Smaragd

Pepper and crushed stone are already dustily and penetratingly signaled in the nose, along with green tea and hints of the lime, white peach and apple that form the juicy, bright fruit foundation for this formidable exemplar of a site whose wines often require longer than those from the neighboring Loibenberg to reveal their full potential. Lean and firm, palpably rich in extract, introverted in its stoniness and pithy nuttiness, this Riesling finishes not only with penetrating citricity, invigorating peppery impingement, and welcome saliva-drawing salinity, but much more intriguingly displays scallop-like animal/mineral richness and unrolls an expansive carpet of mossy, fern-studded forest floor. On first tasting this wine in 2014, I pegged it, wonderful though it is, significantly below its Loibenberg counterpart, but in September it had closed that qualitative distance.