Weingut Prager Federspiel Hinter der Burg Gruner Veltliner, Wachau, Austria

普拉格海特德博格白葡萄酒

點擊次數(shù)：5791

While none of the wines in this year’s Prager collection exceed 13.5% in alcohol (“thankfully,” adds Bodenstein), the 2010 Gruner Veltliner Federspiel Hinter der Burg follows in a long recent line by barely scraping under the 12.5% upper limit set for its category. Pungent scents and flavors of lemon, sea oats, and green herbs accent a matrix of yellow plum and strawberry, supported by glyceral richness and a sense of extract sweetness. A suggestion of beet root and nip of white pepper lend the finish of this satisfyingly succulent Gruner Veltliner a more recognizable varietal character. There has seldom been a more luscious, sappy Federspiel at this address, whether or not the results fit Bodenstein’s generally correct characterization of this vintage as one of “elegance and finesse.” I would expect to enjoy this anytime over the next 4-6 years though be inclined to favor relishing its youthful fruitiness. “True, we had higher than normal acid levels,” relates Toni Bodenstein, “but I did things differently than in other years; three things, namely. The first was to let the grapes hang especially long, and all of the Smaragd was harvested in November. Then, I employed up to 17 hours of skin contact, which reduced the acidity by a gram, sometimes even more. Of course, that was tartaric acid, but due to the long hang time and healthy fruit, we had a high ratio of tartaric. And after long fermentations – not ended before February – we added no sulfur whatsoever and retained the fine lees, which we then stirred weekly through April, making for even higher extract levels and more buffering. And given the high extract and low pH levels, these wines needed comparatively little sulfur at bottling, which with the exception of one early portion of Federspiel, took place in May. To have de-acidified them,” he concludes emphatically, “would have been to risk stripping them of their souls.” Given the tiny size of his crop, Bodenstein elected to forgo separate bottlings from two sites each in Riesling and Gruner Veltliner, instead supplementing his two Federspiel bottlings with that fruit (even if their vineyard designations on the labels stayed the same) “and even then,” he notes, “with Weitenberg and Liebenberg added into the Hinter der Burg, for example, I ended up with less than 50% of the volume of that Federspiel in 2009.”Importer: Winebow, Montvale, NJ; tel. (201) 445-0620