2010 Rudi Pichler Riesling Smaragd Ried Hochrain

“We always had a couple of small Riesling parcels in this site that we put into our Terrassen (bottling),” notes Rudi Pichler by way of explaining his 2010 Riesling Smaragd Hochrain, “but with 2010 I rented a larger parcel from the (local) church, which didn’t want to farm it any longer. I was lucky. This is land you cannot purchase.” The impression of herb and citrus broth with a virtually ineffable sense of stony, smoky, saline mineral infusion here reminds me a bit of Chablis; a bit of Gruner Veltliner, and certainly confirms Pichler’s claim that “with this site you can’t really identify specific fruits. It’s got a very special character; and all you can really say is ‘it tastes like Hochrain.’” I find the present example peachy, though – if you count the flavors obtained by sucking on pit and the flesh left around it. Another instance of lift and prodigious persistence in the present collection, this ought to be worth following for at least a decade. “Early on, we were concerned about the high acidity,” admits Rudi Pichler “but when we did the first analyses, still in September, they already showed a one-to-one ratio of tartaric to malic acid. And the rain was not a bad thing really, as it insured that the vines deposited enormous extract in the grapes. In the end, a small adjustment to the Riesling Federspiel as wine was the only de-acidification I did.” Pichler is a stickler for getting his wines to finish dry, and residual sugar was the last thing he said he could imagine benefiting his 2010s. “For us, leaving behind sugar just doesn’t work. The sugar and acidity stand in opposition to one another, and I just don’t like that sort of wine, it’s not harmonious” he insists. Anywhere from 36 hours to three days of pre-fermentative skin contact – about which Pichler is seldom shy – probably enhanced the sense of extract and wealth of flavors on display in this collection; and given what was apparently the unusually high ratio of tartaric to malic acidity in Pichler’s fruit he could afford losing as precipitant some extra measure of the former, which typically happens with extended maceration. “But you have to know which parts of your vineyards can support this treatment,” he adds. Long stays on the lees – also part of the usual regimen – were surely beneficial. It would be very hard to argue with the success one tastes here from 2010, a vintage in which Pichler harvested all the way up to November 23, and one that in all modesty he clearly considers (as do I) a personal triumph. Importer: Winebow, Montvale, NJ; tel. (201) 445-0620