2006 Gruner Veltliner Schutt Smaragd

The 2006 Gruner Veltliner Smaragd Schutt offers considerably more refinement than the corresponding Kreutles. Scents of peach, nutmeg and sweet pea waft from the glass. A polished and subtly creamy feel contrasts delightfully with a palate-quenching juiciness of pear, sweet pea and peach, notes of brown spices and honey adding to the engaging impression of pure, satisfying ripeness, while subtle peach kernel bitterness and elusive mineral and pepper notes offer counterpoint. Despite its winsome youthful personality, this outstanding example of one of Austria’s iconic wines should cellar well for a decade or more, thanks in no small part to its having been given a good nine month’s gestation in cask. Having finished picking the last day of October makes this by one measure among the earliest harvests on record here, “certainly,” says Knoll, “since the early nineties, anyway.” (In 2003, they began earlier but finished later.) While this year’s Federspiel bottlings were by Knoll’s admission “right on the border” of going over into legal Smaragd territory and required quick action during harvest, they nevertheless retain the requisite sense of lightness and refreshment. But if the harvest was relatively hurried, Knoll’s approach in the cellar was anything but, and none of his 2006 Smaragd had been bottled yet when I tasted them last summer. Importer: Vin Divino, Chicago, IL; tel. (773) 334-6700