2013 Riesling Pfaffenberg

Rainer Wess has been making improvements in his gravity-fed cellar on the eastern edge of Krems; adding to his range of vineyard rentals and fruit contracts (each responsible for around half of his production); and planting some of his own Riesling vines in terraces behind the Hund. Since founding this estate (then Loiben-based) in 2003, the former co-director of the Freie Weingärtner cooperative has taken out contracts on fruit from Stein and Krems as well as the Wachau, thus precluding membership in the Vinea Wachau and concomitant rights to label wines “Federspiel” or “Smaragd.” While the focus of Wess’s single-vineyard bottlings is Loiben and adjacent Stein (thus straddling today’s Wachau-Kremstal demarcation), his generic Wachau bottlings represent especially far-reaching sourcing, including from the Spitzer Graben. It’s encouraging to witness this candid, self-critical and inspiringly enthusiastic vintner begin to acquire at home as well as abroad the reputation he deserves for delivering top quality as well as value.