Neumayer Zwirch Gruner Veltliner, Traisental, Austria

點擊次數：2843

Neumayer 2010 年份的 Gruner Veltliner Zwirch 有著多汁檸檬、橘橙和蜜瓜的風味，還有一絲百里香和碎石的味道。淡淡的菜根和莙荙菜的香味，以及果核的氣息，使該酒風味更加豐富，層次更為復雜。余味綿長，極具活力，帶有淡淡的胡椒味。適飲期：至少 10 年以后。

Neumayer’s 2007 Gruner Veltliner Zwirch smells of yellow split pea, diverse herbs, and ripe melon. Lusher and riper on the palate than its siblings, with a silken texture and a cool, citric streak of refreshment, this finishes with impressive length and refinement. Low yields drove the alcohol to 13% – ordinarily a normal level, but high in the context of this Neumauer vintage – yet once again we have a sense of levity that makes one think “light” and mean it in a positive sense. This should be fun to follow and versatile at table for at least 5-6 years. On account of the hot, dry July, Neumayer says he only did one spraying against mildew and almost no manicuring of the foliage. He picked well into October, since he did not find he was risking such high potential alcohol as his 2006s had reached already in the early days of that month. These wines have what he calls the “cracking” of acidity that invigorates and refreshes. (Note that because of a change in importers at the beginning of this year, prices on these wines were not yet available to me, and the wines themselves will only begin arriving later in the year. Readers should consult my reviews of the 2006s in issue 177 for a ballpark idea of eventual retail prices.) The wines of this years’ Riesling collection chez Neumayer were all very slow to ferment and ended up completely dry at the upper twelve’s in alcohol.Importer: Winemonger, Los Angeles, CA; www.winemonger.com

Neumayer's 2006 Gruner Veltliner Zwirch offers an interesting set of aromas and flavors: rhubarb, coffee, fresh lemon, and diverse herbs. Glossy and silken-textured, this finishes with the sort of decisive grip that the Rafesetzen lacked, with a stony, chalky, smoky tobacco-tinged, (Sichuan-)peppery ending that's not austere thanks to a persistence of luscious if slightly tart fruit. Unlike Rafesetzen, Neumayer points out, the soil structure and water retention in Zwirch leave it in little danger of ever losing its crisp definition, cut, and refreshment value. This should be fun to follow for at least 5-7 years. Neumayer reports that a warm wind blew through the Traisental in the last days of September, after which he began picking on October 3; just over a month later, he was finished. I have been an enthusiastic proponent of the Sauvignon experiments of Neumayer and a number of Danubian growers, but it is impossible to overlook the fact that - in U.S. dollars, at least - excellent Sancerre can still be had for not much more than half the price of the Giess, and that with the Stein, we are in Dagueneau territory. Austrian Sauvignon outside of Styria may still count as an exotic, but if the wine is excellent, its price tends to be set with the high tariff that applies to single-vineyard Styrian Sauvignon in mind.Importer: Vin Divino, Chicago, IL; tel. (773) 334-6700

Those who grade on “varietal typicity” would have to downgrade this lovely wine. Neumayer’s 2005 Gruner Veltliner Zwirch smells of lemon and orange blossom and, surprisingly similar to the Rafesetzen, displays almost Riesling-like citricity, and possesses dense, chewy chalky texture and mineral manifestation. It’s hard to fault this for brightness, clarity, or extract, and I suspect that a couple of year’s improvement are in the cards. Importer: Vin Divino, Chicago, IL; tel. (773) 334-6700