2007 Riesling Setzberg Smaragd

The 2007 Riesling Smaragd Setzberg – picked on the cusp of November – exudes fresh apple, white peach, mint, and juicy lime and ripe peach with bitter accents of zest and pit. Luscious and coolly refreshing, this finishes with a strikingly savory, invigorating, uncanny, hard-to-describe sense of minerality. It displays the remarkable transparency of fruit one would expect from a great Mosel or Nahe Riesling – and very nearly as much sheer refreshment – but with a sumptuous richness seldom possible with dry Riesling outside of the Wachau. This high point for Setzberg should be worth following from bottle for at least 6-8 years. Most of Hirtzberger’s 2007 vintage Gruner Veltliner reflect their late dates of harvest and the presence of botrytis (a certain amount of which he always welcomes) in rich, low tones. Importer: Vin Divino, Chicago, IL; tel. (773) 334-6700