2013 Gruner Veltliner Achleiten Stockkultur
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Tasting notes
A dusty crushed stone note vies with bittersweet floral perfume and cooling, high-toned herbal essences on the nose, along with suggestions of lemon, grapefruit and white peach that could as easily have come from a Riesling. There is a certain sense of strictness to the combination of firmness and brightness in evidence on the palpably extract-rich palate. (And this wine happens to harbor the highest sugar-free dry extract of the present collection, at 32 grams per liter.) But a glossy overlay and persistent liquid floral perfume help assuage the wine’s severe tendencies, and with that brightness comes a vibrant sense of energy that reverberates on the long finish. This might miss quite the clarity or mouthwatering mineral dimension of its two Achleiten siblings, but it is truly formidable stuff.
Critic scores
Average Score
Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate
David Schildknecht, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Another fascinating wine from Toni Bodenstein is the 2013 Gruner Veltliner Smaragd Achleiten Stockkultur. Alone, the flinty bouquet is impressive displaying fresh and mineral/spice-scented fruit aromas of a remarkable high concentration, ripeness and complexity. Rich and intense on the palate this highly elegant and perfectly balanced selection of vines, trained low on single stakes, demonstrates impressively the virtue of this trailing method and/or old vines. This impressive 2013 is virtually a cultural monument and a must-buy for all those who regard wine not just as a drink, but as a handcrafted cultural attainment.