2014 Riesling Smaragd Klaus

I approached this year’s Jamek collection with heightened anticipation. The plague of botrytis in 2014 led me to worry about the influence of the fungus, which has frequently been uncomfortably strong in recent collections from this estate. On the other hand, elevated alcohol has also often been problematic over the past ten or a dozen Jamek vintages, leading me (as was the case in 2013) to favor their Federspiel bottlings from Achleiten and Klaus over the corresponding Smaragde. And I was confident that there weren’t going to be any alcoholically elevated 2014s. Herwig Altmann assures me that in many instances, selection was done berry by berry, and although a couple of bottlings were clouded by less-than-noble botrytis, most of this collection is admirably clear and animated, leading me to hope that this iconic estate is bouncing back.