2012 Riesling Steiner Hund Spätlese trocken
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Tasting notes
Intense in color (straw-golden) and bouquet (ripe and concentrated yet precise fruits, with stony/flinty flavors), the 2012 Riesling Steiner Hund shows some earthy and herbal flavors along with white fruits. Aged for 2.5 years in large wooden casks, the wine reveals a beautiful lightness, purity, finesse and freshness. There is also intensity and complexity on the palate, as well as a very persistent and tension-filled finish. This Steiner Hund is medium-bodied (12.5% alcohol), perfectly dry (three grams of residual sugar), very mineral and full of vitality in the finish. It is still very young, but full of potential. A great dry Riesling from the Kremstal.
Critic scores
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Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate
David Schildknecht, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Prominent lemony brightness and underlying alkalinity do not convey an immediate impression of such a ripe, sunny vintage as this was. Aromatically alluring sea breeze, fennel pollen, and green and black tea persist in the mouth, where this wine also grabs hold of the palate and salivary glands in an outpouring of lemon-drenched oyster liquor. The combination of polish and clarity on display is similarly striking, though by no means unusual in an installment of what is in effect the Nikolaihof’s iconic offering. The long, vibrant finish displays kaleidoscopic flavor interactions no less memorable or mesmerizing for their being nuanced and understated; nor is there any let-up in the onrush of marine salinity. The Saahs family bottled this wine in April 2015 and released it just as stocks of its 2010 counterpart were running low, leaving the 2011 behind in cask for now.