Wieninger Rosengartl Alte Reben

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Tasted from tank, Wieninger’s 2010 Rosengartl Alte Reben – showcasing, as usual, one of the sweetest spots on the Nussberg, and old vines of predominantly Gruner Veltliner, Pinot Blanc, Neuburger, and Roter Traminer – is scented with green tea, iris, and fresh green bean, which then contribute to the allure of an infectiously juicy, polished palate, along with fresh apple, lime, nut oils, and a compellingly saliva-inducing, saline shrimp shell reduction. Hints of fruit pit, black pepper, coriander, and crushed stone add delightful stimulation to a buoyant, long-gliding finish. This triumph of its vintage, representing 1,000 bottles, will be worth chasing down with diligence, and savoring over the next decade or more. Fritz Wieninger’s 2010 collection – like that of 2009 – was literally cut-down by hail (and sadly, several important sites on the Nussberg were savaged again on the eve of my brief stay in Vienna this June). Not that the poor flowering and autumn desiccation – hallmarks that they are of 2010 as a whole – spared Viennese vineyards either. Wieninger’s entire Nussberg holdings produced only 2,000 bottles worth of Riesling, though Gruner Veltliner was thankfully less dramatically reduced; and the overall 2010 crop represented around 40% of mid-term average. (I shall bring readers up-do-date very shortly on the outstanding 2008 and 2009 collections from this estate, whose impressive recent successes are owed in part, notes Wieninger, to cellarmaster Luis Teixeira’s arrival, having ushered in an era of four-hand collaboration.) The difference in grape sugar between lesser- and top-sites was relatively small in 2010, and the cool weather on top of vine trauma from hail made for relatively low finished alcohol across the board. “It’s a very Austrian vintage,” says Wieninger, well aware that the combination of moderate alcohol and pronounced acidity to which he thereby refers has been far from the norm over the past dozen or so years. “I de-acidified selectively, but not at all when it came to Riesling,” he relates, signaling a reversal of the approach taken by many growers, “because I decided that with this grape I could instead play a bit with residual sugar. And I de-acidified a bit even with my reds, otherwise the pHs were so low it would have inhibited malo.” Due to a late arrival on my part for our meeting, I omitted Wieninger’s latest bottlings of Chardonnay from my tasting.Importer: Winebow, Montvale, NJ; tel. (201) 445-0620

From nearly 50 year old vines in what Wieninger calls “the filet” of the Nussberg, his 2006 Rosengartl Alte Reben “the historically greatest Viennese vineyard that it was always my dream to have a part of,” is nearly half Gruner Veltliner, with the rest predominantly Pinot Blanc, Neuburger, and Roter Traminer. Rose petal, Szechuan pepper, lentil and sweet pea in the nose represent a lovely meld of Veltliner and Traminer. Rich and glyceral, with juicy, ripe musk melon and a hint of honey as well as abundant inner-mouth florality, like its Nussberg sibling, this exhibits striking minerality, here expressed as a chalky, salty finishing residue. I would expect it to perform well for 4-5 years, although I have no experience with older vintages of this cuvee. Fritz Wieninger has been the prime dynamo behind whatever over-due recognition the wines of Vienna have garnered over the past decade, and I have been remiss in not visiting with him until last year – too early, unfortunately, to assess certain of the 2007s from his sprawling line-up of cuvees, so the selection below is limited wines that were bottled early, or that I had occasion to revisit. “We are warmer in Vienna than the Wachau or Kamptal,” Wieninger reminded me, “and we can’t wait to harvest our vineyards until November, unless of course we want 15 or 16% alcohol. We need lighter wines, and for that, we have to harvest much earlier – which is unfortunate at times, because aromas are significantly enhanced through later picking, a practice suited to our terroir.” Wieninger seems to have mastered the balancing act that corresponds to this paradox of optimal harvest dates. His lighter wines do not display any unripe flavors.Importer: Vin Divino, Chicago, IL; tel. (773) 334-6700