The Gobelsburg 2007 Gruner Veltliner Auslese completely took me by surprise with its success. A nose of pineapple, grapefruit, peach, and banana leads into a correspondingly luscious, tropically-fruited and subtly creamy palate, with faintly smoky and caramel complications, then finishes with an uncanny sense of levity and refinement, and accents of mint and white pepper. The vintage-typical vivacity and the transparency here are surprising. Until tasting this wine, I had imagined those virtues were applicable only to the wines produced from the healthiest fruit. It will bring a smile to your lips over at least the next 5-7 years. I would be cautious, however, in attempting to put it up against a dessert. Michael Moosbrugger did not begin his main white wine harvest – even for lighter-weight Gruner Veltliner – until mid-October. Unlike most Krems area growers he also picked nobly sweet wine, based on a late bloom of botrytis. Moosbrugger seems to have achieved some (considering the weather) surprisingly successful reds in 2007, having painstakingly cut off half of each cluster to inhibit the development of rot, then harvested prior to any of his whites. (I’ll report on those reds after I have re-tasted them from bottle. For notes on two outstanding 2006 vintage reds which have since lived up to their promise in bottle, consult my report in issue 177.)Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300

A fresh delicate style, the sweetness fleeting over the fruit, giving an orange marmalade character, but retaining lightness, lifted by a final acidity.——R.V.(12/31/2009)—— 89