1990 Riesling Achleiten Smaragd

Tasted from a magnum with no label but with a cork indicating 1990 Wachstum Bodenstein, Prager's 1990 Achleiten Riesling (?) Smaragd (I suppose it's a Riesling although it could theoretically also be a Grüner Vetliner; Bodenstein cannot define the grape variety since the floods of 1991 and 2002 washed off the labels) has a beautifully clear and mature but also fresh and well-defined Riesling bouquet with fascinating mineral aromas. Highly elegant, finessed and piquant on the palate, this is an intense and well-structured masterwork of the Achleiten and one of the greatest dry Rieslings I have tasted. There is such great elegance, finesse and complexity here that comes along weightless but with serenity and persistence. The 1990 is highly intense and mineral as well as stimulatingly salty. It is structured by fine tannins and shows an incredible vitality and energy! This is dry Riesling at the highest level but probably not from the very best bottle. The cork added a bit of tannin and astringency that became more and more obvious the more days I consulted this bottle (several times per day over five days in total). Tasted in July 2017.