2007 Wachau Whites

Hi all,
what is your opinion on this vintage? Which wines (Riesling, Gruner Veltliner) would you recommend to buy?
Thanks for any advice,
Dieter

Hopefully someone on the scene (Michael Pronay, or maybe Robert R.) will have an informed answer. I haven't seen any 2007 Austrians in US yet.

I haven't tasted any yet either (Some are due here next month?), but apparently the vintage was scorching hot (like 2003 hot.) and the Kremstal had some hail damage. Hopefully Michael chimes in. From what I know though, a great vintage for Reds!

-Bill

Hello!

Actually I haven't tasted a lot of 2007 (a especially not from the Wachau). It is clear that the vintage is not as ripe as 2006, so we may expect more "classic" whites. Harvest was also bigger. With respect to the Wachau, I read a report from a Falstaff Ferderspiel Tasting where they noted that Riesling was overall more successful than Grüner Veltliner.

The only '07 from the Wachau that I had yet was a humble Pfarre Weissenkirchen Riesling Federspiel (a FWW brand) that was certainly fine but nothing exciting (not that I expected that).

Sorry to have no more specific information.

Regards, Robert

Robert is spot on. Stick to the usual suspects, and you can't do wrong. Viktor Siegl, a collegue who did taste quite a lot of '07s in the Wachau, e.g. said of Jamek that the '07s might even be slightly better than the already excellent '06s.

..that the '07s might even be slightly better than the already excellent '06s.

Dear all,
thanks for your appreciated advice.
@ Michael: your comparison with the '06s is very encouraging, indeed! What Wachau '06s do you like most by the way? Cheers, Dieter

Dieter, these are the top white wines from last year's tasting I conducted for the wine part of "A la Carte Restaurant Guide":

100
Franz Hirtzberger, Spitz
2006 Riesling Smaragd Singerriedel

99
Franz Hirtzberger, Spitz
2006 Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Honivogl

99
F. X. Pichler, Loiben
2006 Riesling Dürnsteiner Kellerberg Smaragd

98
F. X. Pichler, Loiben
2006 Grüner Veltliner Dürnsteiner Kellerberg Smaragd

98
F. X. Pichler, Loiben
2006 Grüner Veltliner „M“ Smaragd

97
Leo Alzinger, Loiben
2006 Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Steinertal

97
Leo Alzinger, Loiben
2006 Grüner Veltliner Reserve

97
Willi Bründlmayer, Langenlois
2006 Riesling Heiligenstein Alte Reben

97
Willi Bründlmayer, Langenlois
2006 Riesling Heiligenstein Lyra

97
Josef Jamek, Joching
2006 Riesling Smaragd Klaus

97
Josef Jamek, Joching
2006 Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Achleiten

97
F. X. Pichler, Loiben
2006 Grüner Veltliner Loibner Berg Smaragd

97
F. X. Pichler, Loiben
2006 Riesling Loibner Steinertal Smaragd

97
Rudi Pichler, Wösendorf
2006 Grüner Veltliner Hochrain Smaragd

97
Rudi Pichler, Wösendorf
2006 Riesling Kirchweg Smaragd

97
Rudi Pichler, Wösendorf
2006 Riesling Achleiten Smaragd

100
Franz Hirtzberger, Spitz
2006 Riesling Smaragd Singerriedel

Dear Michael,
great line-up, thanks!
How would you rate Hirtzberger's 2005 Riesling Smgd Singerriedel compared to the 2006?
Dieter

99/100.

Dieter, these are the top white wines from last year's tasting I conducted for the wine part of "A la Carte Restaurant Guide":

100
Franz Hirtzberger, Spitz
2006 Riesling Smaragd Singerriedel

99
Franz Hirtzberger, Spitz
2006 Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Honivogl

98
F. X. Pichler, Loiben
2006 Grüner Veltliner „M“ Smaragd

Wow, what a lineup.

I'd give almost anything to try the Honivogl & the Singerriedel from 2006.

The 2002 Honivogl [from magnum] has been the best wine I've tasted two years running now, and nothing else has been close.

And the 2002 "M" Riesling [also from magnum] was a towering wine a few years ago.

Did you get a chance to try any 2006 Unendlich?

And did Toni Bodenstein make any special bottlings in 2006, akin to that Markus Prachensky he bottled from the 2001 vintage?

These are fantasy wines for me...

Sigh.

Nathan,

sorry, no, I didn't taste an FX Unendlich 2006. As any winery is limited to five entries, you can see what FX sent, since all are among the top 16.

Toni Bodenstein, otoh, has a very strange policy of sending wines. He sent only two, 2006 Riesling Smaragd Wachstum Bodenstein (96/100) and Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Achleiten (93/100). So I have no idea about any special bottling, but since I didn't even hear about it, I don't think he did anything comparable to the Prachensky 2001 bottling.