2017 Ried Grassnitzberg Sauvignon Blanc Erste STK Lage

Their oldest vines, planted in the 1950s, very cool site. Classified as 1STK (equivalent to premier cru) in the private association known as the Steirische Terroir- and Klassik­weingüter. Limestone. Fermented in big oak and unfiltered after 18 months’ ageing.  RS 1.1 g/l, TA 6.2 g/l. Markedly stony aroma but piercingly fresh aroma that is both grapefruit and the smoky/fumy notes of spontaneous fermentation. Mouth-wateringly fresh and tense, really tight but also very long. Precision and purity and extremely salty on the finish. (JH)

Bottled in February 2019, the 2017 Ried Grassnitzberg Sauvignon Blanc is from Tement's coolest vineyard, where Manfred Tement started the Sauvignon Blanc revolution in South Styria (when the grape was called Muscat-Sylvaner and had a very bad image). The nose is impressive in its deep, pure, fresh and complex, tightly knit generosity that reveals a coolish lime and lemon bouquet interwoven with flinty notes of crushed limestone rocks and even charming floral notes, white cassis, melissa, stinging nettle and green tea aromas. Full-bodied, round and highly finessed, with a coolish, seamless silky texture and a firm, persistently salty and crunchy-crystalline structure, this is a great and expressive Grassnitzberg that has never been better, more complex and spellbinding. The 2017 already shows its class, but you would waste the very best if you drank it too soon. This is a great, endlessly salty and tensioned Sauvignon Blanc with challenging but ripe and stimulating phenols (12-18 hours of maceration). Stay patient but buy first. Tasted in May 2019.

A little less smoky than the Klassik and riper citrus on the nose as well as fine herbal freshness. More reductive on the palate, more intense too, really smoky. Dry and that fine chalky texture again. A step up in intensity. (JH)