2010 F.X. Pichler Grüner Veltliner M Smaragd

Matured in a new-ish 1,200 liter cask coopered in Austria from French oak, and the last-bottled of Pichlers’ present Smaragd collection, the 2010 Gruner Veltliner Smaragd M is based largely on fruit from Loibenberg (60%), Muhlpoint, and Steinertal (with a bit of Kellerberg and Kollmutz). “While this year there is no botrytis fruit in the ‘M’,” notes Lucas Pichler, “there were certainly some lightly shriveled berries. We soaked the skins for two days, and in cask did batonnage for two months to enhance the sense of creaminess.” Green bean, apple, and white peach are dusted with brown spices and Szechuan pepper, informing a rich, downright powerful palate performance and finishing with smoky pungency slightly accentuated by a hint of alcoholic heat. The suggestions of lanolin and resin from cask are well-integrated into this wine’s almost sweetly-rich, creamily-textured fruit matrix and its strong native pungency. But as is often my impression, the fascinating interplay of fruit and mineral that characterizes the very best F. X. Pichler wines is missing in their “M.” The 2010 vintage in many respects played into Lucas and F.X. Pichler’s hands, inasmuch as their fine sites and vine selections seldom fail to fully ripen, but at the same time, the desire they have voiced since 2008 (and about which I shall write further in an upcoming report on that and the 2009 vintage) to moderate alcohol levels received nature’s considerable cooperation. Picking began already in the first week of October but lasted into mid-November, “and at the end it actually got a bit too warm,” reports Lucas Pichler, “and the sugar levels went almost too high in a couple of instances.” Only the must for Riesling Federspiel was de-acidified “because I had to harvest early to insure low-enough Oechsle,” says Pichler. “But I think the wines should taste as they are, and their acidity is not unripe. With Riesling, one can help out by leaving a few extra grams of residual sugar, and it fits wonderfully,” he observes, alluding to a measure already taken with certain 2008s and 2009s as much to moderate finished alcohol levels as to balance acidity. “I’m really happy to have wines with this year’s lively enticement,” he continues, “after quite a few recent vintages of low acidity. In our terraces, foliage remained on the vines into the middle of November despite frost at lower elevations, which aided in ripening the acids. And this year we gave even our Federspiel wines 6-8 hours of skin contact. The vintage reminds me of 1999 in its ripeness and freedom from botrytis, as well as in its salinity.” While the overall crop level is down significantly as just about everywhere in 2010, it is the Gruner Veltliner that took it on the chin. “We actually had close to a normal crop of Riesling,” explains Pichler, “because there was almost no botrytis this year” whereas in a typical vintage at this estate, noble rot has robbed the characteristically late-harvested Riesling of considerable juice. Incidentally, in this year of the first Pichler Liebenberg Gruner Veltliner (see my description below), Hollerin Riesling ceased its run at this address, as the rented vines reverted back to their owner, Weingut Schmidl. (I did not get chance to taste Pichler’s two Sauvignon Blancs from 2010.). Importer: Weygandt-Metzler Importing, Unionville, PA; tel. (610) 486-0800