WTN: '06 GV, '05 Macon, '04 Bdx

With grilled pork chops:

2006 Schloss Gobelsurg "Gobelsburger" Gruner Veltliner (Langenlois)
Ripe yellow fruit, plum and apple with an accent of peas/edamame. Nice , full and ripe. Big for entry-level GV, but clear vibrant acidity keeps it light on its feet. Does well with grilled pork chops. A bit of slatey mineral. Very nice for the level, looks like Michael Pronay's praise of the '06 vintage for GV is right on the mark. B+

With smoked salmon and assorted leftovers:
2005 Jadot Macon-Villages
This was a host gift from a party. I'm sure many would sneer at this (Macon from a big negociant), but actually I was very pleased. Sweet Fuji apple fruit and a little white peach, clean with no oaky notes, a hint of chalk on the finish. It's not a 1er Chablis, it's not equal of the Brun Beaujolais Blanc, but it is a prefectly fine example of clean Chardonnay fruit. B

Over a couple of nights, with some Quicke's cheddar:
2004 Cap de Faugeres (Cotes de Castillon)
Primary, tannic, and a little high-toned at first. Softens a bit over the first evening, some black plum and a little lead pencil. Moderate acidity keeps fresh, fruit puts on weight. But there's a little green note underneath, and the vanilla/oak flavors seem to sit on top of the fruit, not to integrate. Never really blossoms, and tasted next day the green is more apparent. No where near the 2001 (which I thought a fine value for modern Bdx) for my tastes. Half-bottle to the vinegar crock. B-/C+

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency

[David M. Bueker]

No shock on the Jadot. It's rare that anything from them is less than good, even the mass-market bottlings.

2006 is shaping up to be quite the year for Austrians.

I tried the Berger 2006 Gruner Veltliner last night, the 1 liter green glass bottle, and thought it was pretty good. Floral, lemon grapefruit with lots more body than I remember from previous years. Very drinkable and a great value for $9/liter. I'm looking forward to more 2006 GV if this entry level bottle is any indication. We went through two bottles at a barbecue very quickly, so it was a crowd pleaser too.

Best,
Marc

[David M. Bueker]

The 2006 Hofer Gruner Veltliner (also in liters) is very nice as well.

No shock on the Jadot. It's rare that anything from them is less than good, even the mass-market bottlings.
2006 is shaping up to be quite the year for Austrians.

Yes, Jadot might edge Drouhin as my favorite big negociant, mainly because I often like their whites more. Visiting Jadot next week.

I've only had the Gobelsburg, plus the Berger and Hofer 1-Liters so far. Makes me optimistic re the bigger boys like the Privat.

Hi Dale!

About two weeks ago I had the pleasure to spend a short weekend with my wife at the fairly new Nigl Hotel/restaurant and besides this I of course tasted the 2006 Nigl range.
I have to admit that this tasting left me rather clueless. I don't have any detailed tasting notes but somehow a Riesling Privat with about 14,5% alcohol is not something that makes sense to me (I think the Kremsleiten was even higher, arounf 15%). Maybe it is my wrong preconception of Riesling as light and elegant but I was trying to think of some food to pair with that monster and couldn't come up with anything. The GVs seem to carry the similarily high alcohol a bit better and I bought two bottles of the '06 Privat but all in all I have to say, I was a bit disappointed. Especially after the glorious GV Privat '05 that we had with dinner at the Restaurant. This might be the best white wine I ever had (not that this means too much)!

BTW, after dinner we had a short walk and then returned to the restaurant for a nightcap - we orderd two glasses of `06 Rieslings, the Dornleiten and the Piri. Both showed a strange bitterness in the finish - for me, the next day everything was clear when I saw the high alcohol degrees.

So to sum it up - maybe not really a vintage for my taste!


Regards, Robert

Robert,

Thanks for your impressions on the 06 Nigl wines.

The Berger 1 L bottle was 13% abv if I recall correctly. In previous vintages I think it was closer to 11,5-12%. Was the 2006 vintage in Austria even hotter than 2005?

Best,
Marc

Was the 2006 vintage in Austria even hotter than 2005?

Well, the long and very warm autumn was the reason for very high must weights. So vintners picking late had to deal with very high potential alcohol.

Of course all this also depends on the vineyard site. Some areas in Austria with very exposed sites - e.g Wachau and parts of Kremstal, maybe also Kamptal- had more problems (some may not consider this as problem, though), in other areas like Weinviertel or Donauland the situation was a bit different and alcohol levels are more in check. Here one can find exceptionally ripe and balanced wines that might be a bit more to my taste this vintage (please note that most of this is not first hand knowledge, I haven't tasted any big gun Wachau wines).

I addition, some cold and rainy weather in the late spring reduced yields quite significantly, especially for Grüner Veltliner.

Nigl Senior was not too concerned about the ripeness and alhocol, he just shrugged and said something about the different character of vintages....
Maybe the proper approach.

Regards, Robert

Robert,
glad you lked the '05 Privat GV, I bought but haven't opened.

It's certainly possible that a warm vintage can be over the top at the top level of quality, and at same time helpful at low end (with sites that maybe normally have trouble fully ripening doing well). I'll tread cautiously at more expensive '06s. Mr. Pronay is very high on the vintage, and usually on the mark for Austria for me, but definitely likes bigger wines. So I'll look for '06 GV with aniticipation, but try to taste before buying more than a single bottle!