1997 Grüner Veltliner Spiegel

Each of the past several years, Mantler has sent me two sample bottles, one of them from the roter veltliner (for which he is well known). Each vintage these bright, reductive wines have been excellent. So this year I found time to meet the energetic, amiable winemaker and experience a fuller range of wines from his 18 hectares on massive loess terraces around Brunn. If these slopes had irrigation, says Mantler, they would produce even better wine. He has switched to largely commercial yeast cultures in recent years because ambient yeasts weren't doing the job. "And even so," he notes, "1997 was difficult, especially with riesling. I have one wine still in tank and I'm just hoping it ferments through." (Terry Theise Estate Selections, Jessup, MD)