2012 Nigl Grüner Veltliner Privat

Nigl’s 2012 Gruner Veltliner Pellingen Privat boasts a sweetly ripe core of admirably fresh and juicy yellow plum, kumquat and pineapple laced with white pepper on a voluminous (14.5% alcohol), subtly creamy palate, and leading to an impressively sappy and gripping if slightly warm finish. I suspect this impressively rich and powerful if neither nuanced nor elegant Gruner Veltliner will be best enjoyed by 2020. Martin Nigl finds 2012 characterized by strong performances even in the ostensive low-end of his line-up, whereas he deemed 2011 quality more site-dependent. Unfortunately, I missed-out on tasting precisely that lower – and typically alcoholically lighter – end of his 2012 Gruner Veltliner line-up. While several ripe recent vintages here have been considerably challenged by their high alcohol, its elevated level in Nigl’s single-site 2012s does not preclude refreshment and in a couple of instances even a surprising sense of buoyancy. As is often the case, notes Nigl, “Riesling tended to plateau in must weight at a certain point while Gruner Veltliner kept rising,” and he certainly took his time with the former, not completing harvest until late November. But even allowing for the just-mentioned factors, it must be pointed out that whereas an increasing number of Krems area growers – whether or not from fashion as much as genuine aesthetic concern – are conscientiously pursuing a lightening of their wines’ alcoholic load with a self-proclaimed goal of finesse, Nigl’s wines (long referred to with adjectives such as “precise,” “detailed,” and “rarified”) have over the past decade or so been moving relatively steadily in the direction of amplitude, body, and more powerful grip. Yields chez Nigl were only a bit below normal in 2012 as the May frost that hit nearby largely spared the often steeply terraced immediate valley of the diminutive River Krems. Incidentally, as if veteran vintner Nigl did not have his hands full enough with his current acreage and running a swank hotel and restaurant on the winery property, beginning with 2013 he is farming property in the Kamptal as well, that of an estate he bought-out in Zobing, the first fruits of whose cool, high elevation sites (including Heiligenstein) tasted intriguing as well as promising from cask. “I was keen for a new challenge,” remarks Nigl with a grin. Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300