2001 Riesling Smaragd Höhereck

We picked out any botrytis and immediately harvested any affected grapes, permitting only the greenest, healthiest part of the crop to hang later," claims Alzinger. The results are indeed generally clear and pure, although I caught more than a glimpse of botrytis here and there. Alzinger's U.S. agent Terry Theise reports jocularly that "the floodgates have opened," and he is getting all of 260 cases of Alzinger's wine for the American market this vintage. So one sees that these will require some searching, but the best of them are worth the effort. Unfortunately, three of the wines that were shipped to the U.S., gruner veltliner Federspiele from Frauenweingarten and Muhlpoint as well as Riesling Smaragd Liebenberg, were not available to taste in June. (Terry Theise) x000D Also recommended: 2001 Gruner Veltliner Federspiel Hochstrasser, 2001 Gruner Veltliner Smaragd Liebenberg, 2001 Riesling Smaragd Hollerin, 2001 Riesling Smaragd Loibenberg.