Rainer Wess Grüner Veltliner 1ÖTW Reserve Pfaffenberg

What a wine! Austria really does it flawlessly. A rich Grüner marked with a rich honeyed nose blending in with notes of dried pineapple, apricot, baked apple and pear compote. Don’t be surprised - the wine is not sweet at all, but it’s powerful as fuck. Sooo much concentration here, it’s incredible. Acidity is medium, giving way more to richness than to freshness. Easily 10+ years left in this. Huaa!

Rainer Wess Zoom tasting. Drank in Gabriel Standart. Appearance is clear, medium intensity, yellow gold colour. Legs. Nose is clean, medium+ intensity, with aromas of white pepper, old ginger, bruised pear, old herbs. Developing. On the palate, dry, rounded high acidity, medium alcohol (13.5%), medium body. Medium+ flavour intensity, with flavours of savoury herbs, salty saline wet stones minerality, citrus lemon, green melon, peach, spiced pear, white pepper undertone. Bitter fruit pith to the long finish. Good quality. Unique complex …

Made in the smaragd style, so with the ripest grapes, this is concentrated and exciting. While it is not sweet, the impression given by these ripe grapes is initially one of concentrated richness, with peaches and nuts, but it finishes dry - and long. This is also from ungrafted vines. Interesting, beautifully made and a lovely, off-beat find. Highly recommended.

Very powerful honeyed nose and taste, balanced by enough acidity. The power dissipates quite quickly there is a lingering finish. I'd have guessed a La Rocca

Monstrous! This wine is nuts! Gorgeous golden colour - deep and dark. Exquisite nose - apricots, almonds; I can barely contain my excitement - it's dense, weighty, powerful and generous. Impeccable balance. Ridiculously exotic and explosive and giving. Stunning. I adore this - it's a work of art. Sublime. I am told by people who know better than me that these GVs last a very long time.