2016 Weissburgunder Maximum

Ludwig Hiedler junior reported that despite frost and some localized hail, the family ended up with only marginally lower than average yields. “I saw lots of vineyards with peronospora,” he noted, “but we really didn’t have a serious problem in that regard.” Given these close-to-normal yields, the practice of halving clusters was again rigorously pursued. Serious picking did not commence until October and ran past the beginning of November. Ludwig Hiedler senior compared the results with his outstanding 1999 collection (from a vintage that in the Kamptal rivaled 1997), and added, “I think it’s an especially fine Riesling year.” “One thing we did differently this year,” noted Ludwig junior, “is to eliminate any botrytis, whereas my father used to accept a small amount of healthy botrytis, particularly in the ‘Maximum’ bottlings.” Young Hiedler’s goal is clearly to enhance clarity and precision without sacrificing the textural schmaltz that has become something of an estate hallmark. And judging from recent results, he is succeeding. For the September 2017 presentation of Erste Lage wines by Austria’s Traditionsweingüter, the Hiedlers elected to put the relevant wines into sample bottles a couple of weeks early and without filtration, because otherwise their bottling schedule would have necessitated showing finished wines that had been filtered and bottled within a week or 10 days of that presentation. I was able to compare those top 2016s that same week from both the unfiltered sample bottles and the final bottlings. The tasting notes that follow reflect my aggregate impressions. (For details concerning this estate’s vineyards, evolving practices and recent history, readers are invited to consult the especially detailed introductions to my report on its 2013s and 2015s.)