The Schmid 2010 Gruner Veltliner Gebling Reserve offers a sweet sense of peach and musk melon ripeness quite distinctive from that of its immediate siblings, backed by volume and glycerin (but thankfully no heat or roughness) from 14% alcohol. While a whiff of grass hung over the corresponding Alte Reben bottling, here a passion fruit suggestion of Sauvignon and a hint of parsnip are lurking, but I don’t find the effect incongruous, and a finishing caper and juniper berry bitterness helps offset the sweet ripeness and sheer lushness of this wine, which I suspect will drink well for at least 4-6 years. I last met with Schmid in order to taste his 2007s (on which I reported in issue 181), and my visit this June confirms him as a source of some seriously delicious and well-priced wines. He opened for me a few of his 2009s as well as his most recent collection. Schmid claims to have had only one-third of a normal crop in 2010 from his 40 acres (which are spread over some 50 parcels). “Some of my old vines didn’t even have any crop on them this year,” he notes.A Monika Caha Selection, New York, NY; tel. (212) 877-3558 with various importers, including Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700

To an even greater extent than the corresponding 2010, Schmid’s 2009 Gruner Veltliner Gebling Reserve seems slightly sweet thanks to its sheer ripeness of flavors, high glycerin, and low acidity. Peach with roasted, caramelized turnip and celery root are tinged with smoky black tea, blond tobacco, and pungent herbs. There is a hint of heat to an otherwise lush, long finish. I would plan to enjoy this over the next 4-5 years. I last met with Schmid in order to taste his 2007s (on which I reported in issue 181), and my visit this June confirms him as a source of some seriously delicious and well-priced wines. He opened for me a few of his 2009s as well as his most recent collection. Schmid claims to have had only one-third of a normal crop in 2010 from his 40 acres (which are spread over some 50 parcels). “Some of my old vines didn’t even have any crop on them this year,” he notes.A Monika Caha Selection, New York, NY; tel. (212) 877-3558 with various importers, including Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700