2012 Alzinger Riesling Loibner Smaragd

Luscious apple and white peach are allied to pumpkin and winter squash in an Alzinger 2012 Riesling Smaragd Loibenberg, which is fuller, more satiny in texture and more obviously extract-rich (indeed, almost sweetly so) than the wines that preceded it in this collection, This tends toward tropical richness in its evocation of grapefruit and mango, yet at the same time lets loose a showering cascade of crystalline mineral notes that go on to shimmer lastingly through an infectiously juicy fruit matrix, along with saliva-inducing salinity, savory nut oils and pumpkin seed. This extraordinary Riesling will, I suspect, continue turning heads through at least 2020. “Really, when you compare the basic outlines of the growing season,” suggests the younger Leo Alzinger, “it wasn’t that different in outline from 2011. Alcohol levels are comparable, but the 2012s – though analytically not significantly higher in acidity – act livelier. In Loiben, we managed to get just enough rain when it was needed to keep the vines working, and temperatures were a bit cooler at harvest than in 2011.” He was not able to offer an explanation as to why, in contrast with so many others of this vintage, his Rieslings seemed – at least on the occasion of my tasting – to outclass his (to be sure, excellent) Gruner Veltliners; indeed, he pointed out that his Rieslings are, on the whole, planted in thinner soils that, in principle, make for greater vine stress. Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300