Rudi Pichler Roter Veltliner, Wachau, Austria

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Passion fruit, rhubarb, brown spices, and bitter-edged herbs characterize Pichler’s 2010 Roter Veltliner, a wine of formidable density even by varietal and vintage standards, yet conveying welcome sheer juiciness in a long, pungent, piquant, subtly ash-streaked finish. At 13.5% alcohol, interestingly, the present rendition is lighter than usual for this wine or indeed this variety, a statistic even more remarkable in light of Pichler’s claim that half the crop was botrytis-affected, which isn’t unusual for Roter Veltliner but stands in stark contrast to the rest of the fruit he harvested in 2010. Alas, there are but 280 bottles! Unsurprisingly, it’s hard to assemble experience in the aging of this particular, rare Roter Veltliner bottling, but by analogy with other wines of its cepage and authorship, I suspect that this will remain engaging for at least a dozen years and quite possibly considerably longer. “Early on, we were concerned about the high acidity,” admits Rudi Pichler “but when we did the first analyses, still in September, they already showed a one-to-one ratio of tartaric to malic acid. And the rain was not a bad thing really, as it insured that the vines deposited enormous extract in the grapes. In the end, a small adjustment to the Riesling Federspiel as wine was the only de-acidification I did.” Pichler is a stickler for getting his wines to finish dry, and residual sugar was the last thing he said he could imagine benefiting his 2010s. “For us, leaving behind sugar just doesn’t work. The sugar and acidity stand in opposition to one another, and I just don’t like that sort of wine, it’s not harmonious” he insists. Anywhere from 36 hours to three days of pre-fermentative skin contact – about which Pichler is seldom shy – probably enhanced the sense of extract and wealth of flavors on display in this collection; and given what was apparently the unusually high ratio of tartaric to malic acidity in Pichler’s fruit he could afford losing as precipitant some extra measure of the former, which typically happens with extended maceration. “But you have to know which parts of your vineyards can support this treatment,” he adds. Long stays on the lees – also part of the usual regimen – were surely beneficial. It would be very hard to argue with the success one tastes here from 2010, a vintage in which Pichler harvested all the way up to November 23, and one that in all modesty he clearly considers (as do I) a personal triumph.Importer: Winebow, Montvale, NJ; tel. (201) 445-0620