The Gobelsburg 2007 Gruner Veltliner Lamm displays the ester-filled aromatics, textural richness, succulent ripeness, and amplitude that always seems to accrue to this site at the foot of the Heiligenstein. And it is certainly tempting to see a source for its complexity and underlying structural stability – as proven by age-ability – in this site’s particular mixture of loess with eroded sandstone and granite. Whatever the source of the magic, magic is indeed in evidence again this year. Musk melon, snap pea, and peach in the nose introduce a palate whose sensation of peach and persimmon ripeness and whose textural opulence and creaminess belie the wine’s merely 13.5% alcohol. There is an elegance and clarity here that is sometimes missing from Lamm on account of sheer ripeness, but faintly prickly brown spice, pepper, and citrus zest in the finish remind one of a brush with botrytis. As usual, there will be a September bottling of this wine in addition to the April (which I tasted), but Moosbrugger says his experience shows that what small difference there is fades in a few years. And make no mistake, this can more than merely weather a decade or more the cellar. Michael Moosbrugger did not begin his main white wine harvest – even for lighter-weight Gruner Veltliner – until mid-October. Unlike most Krems area growers he also picked nobly sweet wine, based on a late bloom of botrytis. Moosbrugger seems to have achieved some (considering the weather) surprisingly successful reds in 2007, having painstakingly cut off half of each cluster to inhibit the development of rot, then harvested prior to any of his whites. (I’ll report on those reds after I have re-tasted them from bottle. For notes on two outstanding 2006 vintage reds which have since lived up to their promise in bottle, consult my report in issue 177.)Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300
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