Weingut Alzinger Steinertal Smaragd Gruner Veltliner 2016
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Spectator -
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Robert
Parker
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Winemaker Notes
Fantastic aroma! An utter classic vintage of this, a numinous dialogue between its herbal, racy and limey elements and its physio-sweetness, between the citric pinch and a creamy mid-palate richness.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
This broad, powerful statement of peach, apple, honeysuckle, lemon and stone aromas and flavors is balanced and intense, with a searing, complex, saline finish. Drink now through 2028.
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Wine Enthusiast
A tropical touch of passion fruit plays on the pear-inflected nose of this wine. The concentrated palate, however, is all about lemon freshness and yeasty texture. Soy and miso notions add a salty element while lemon zest and pith notes provide a precise texture. That lemon peel quality dominates with its purity on the long finish. Lovely and compact but very concentrated.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Ried Steinertal Grüner Veltliner Smaragd has a coolish and flinty flavored nose of perfectly ripe and concentrated white and yellow-fleshed fruits. Full-bodied and juicy on the palate, this Veltliner balances its richness and fruit intensity with finesse, freshness, fine minerals and tannins. The finish is well structured, long, intense and powerful. I'd keep the 2016 for another three or four years before I'd serve it. Tasted in July 2017, one week after the bottling.
Other Vintages
2021-
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James
Suckling
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James
Suckling
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Robert
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Enthusiast -
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Spectator -
James
Suckling
Leo Alzinger is located in Unterloiben, just across the street from Knoll. Leo owns parcels in two of the great vineyards in this part of the river valley: Loibenberg and Steinertal. Loibenberg is a towering, terraced hillside, while the diminutive (5.5 hectare) Steinertal is hidden and maintains a cooler micro-climate. On the terraced vineyards of both sites, riesling is cultivated on the higher, more primary rock rich parcels while grüner veltliner is cultivated on the lower, silty, loess based parcels. Harvest at Alzinger happens later than some of Leo’s neighbors in Unterloiben, something he attributes to old vines and the specific exposition of his parcels. The extra time on the vine doesn’t increase sugar levels, Leo says, but rather pushes physiological ripeness to greater balance. Alzinger crushes whole cluster with a short maceration, then allows the must to settle for 24 hours, dropping any green tannins out. Tasting the wines next to some of the other Wachau greats, it becomes apparent that elegance and pristine fruit is what Leo looks for in winemaking, rather than opulence. Alzinger’s wines are never forceful or assertive; they are instead amazingly sanguine and calmly transparent.