Paul Achs Pannobile, Burgenland, Austria

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The Achs 2006 Pannobile – a blend of Zweigelt with smaller amounts of St. Laurent and Blaufrankisch – mingles black cherry, machine oil, wood smoke, and piquant nuttiness in the nose in a Cabernet Franc-like way. Formidably concentrated but firm to the point of stiffness, it finishes with bitter-sweet concentration and persistently smoky pungency. Possibly another year in bottle will do this good, after which it should keep for several more. Paul Achs has developed a reputation as one of Austria’s top red wine vintners, and it was high time I paid him another visit. Like many vintners – not only in Austria – Achs is moving in the direction of 500 liter barrels and away from barriques, which considering the explicit, extraneous oak imprint on some of his past wines (including his 2006 Pinot Noir), strikes me as sensible. He has also embraced biodynamic viticultural methods. A number of his 2007 wines – both white and red – were sligthly reductive, tart, and tight last June, but it is early days to assess the reds in particular, the simplest of which he planned to bottle just prior to harvest 2008. (Ach’s 2007 Blaufrankisch Ungerberg looked to be the star of the vintage here.) Unfortunately, I did not have chance to taste Ach’s less-expensive 2006 reds. His upper-end 2006 reds were all bottled several months earlier than in past years – he said they showed well early and he preferred to try to capture that.Importer: Vin Divino, Chicago, IL; tel. (773) 334 6700