1999 Gruner Veltliner Smaragd Kellerberg

"F.X." rather wryly suggested that his critics would have to look elsewhere for targets, since the '99s are classically dry, yet not exceptionally high in alcohol. In fact, this is thanks to nature long, rot-free ripening curve, not to any conscious stylistic decision. "The grapes stayed thick-skinned and healthy all the way into early December, when we finished picking," he explains. "It's not that sugar levels kept increasing," added son Lucas, "but rather that more aromas were bound into the grapes the longer they hung." In every vintage, the Pichlers are out to capture and preserve the maximum ripe fruit and mineral extract, and they have succeeded as well as ever with an outstanding collection of '99s.