The Schloss Halbtrun 2005 Grand Vin TBA displays more overt sweetness that the 2004, with hints of butterscotch along with luscious peach and pineapple, and with an imposingly viscous, creamy, palpably dense palate impression. Amazingly, this finishes with sap and vigor, penetrating and positively refreshing even while not denying its creamy richness and caramelization.The Baroque palace of Halbturn itself (located practically on the Hungarian border) is better-known than its wines, whose modern production only began in 2002. It was from this base that the Hungarian imperial vineyards at Jois on the north-western shore of the Neusiedlersee were long managed. (For more about that site, consult my coverage of Umathum.) Those Jois vineyards – devoted primarily to reds – are supplemented by contract fruit, and by plantings in the neighborhood of the Schloss (east of better-known Monchhof and Frauenkirchen). Markus zu Koenigsegg, Francois-Xavier Gaboriaud, and Markus Sieben head the team responsible also for a series of tank- or fuder-rendered wines under the Koenigsegg label. A series of small-production botrytis wines vinified in new barrique proved distinctively delicious.Importer: Wein-Bauer, Inc., Franklin Park, IL; tel. (847) 678 0685