Austria’s spectacular 2021s

This comes from mineral vineyards, not from Loess. It’s delicate, with notes of iodine and then a floral element. The finish spreads out and then there’s a bitterness here, too. This is explosive and very pure. This is a spectacular Grüner. So much oyster shell on the finish, and brilliantly balanced. Love this: very driven style.

This is the vineyard up the Spitzergraben, the coolest site, on the corner of the valley, where the cool air comes down from the plateau. Very precise and quite savoury on the nose. There’s notes of mint and plenty of stone fruit, and then an orange blossom character, too. So much vibrancy here: this has so much acidity, but nothing sticks out. This has everything dialled up.

Seven different batches, then blended together. Have vines from bottom to very top of hill. Bottom much riper typically, while the top is focussed. Together they are greater than the sum of its parts. The nose here is beguiling. Quite restrained, there’s some floral and spice, while the palate is concentrated and powerful. It fills the palate, with weight and texture, this is muscular and complex, and spectacularly long. Oyster shell and spice and pure fruit. Astounding. But rare.

From 100% Loess Soil, near the church. This borders where Honivogl comes from (which could also be called Axpoint). Creamier on the nose, lots of pineapple. Lots of palate weight here, there’s tons of ripe and intense fruit, and an amazing weight and length. This is supple and lots of spice: an almost christmassy feel to the finish.

Honivogl was the old owner’s name. On the border of Singerriedel and Axpoint, so it’s found in the outflow of Singerriedel. This smells pretty spectacular. So much intensity and then there’s a coolness to the fruit, and that lovely palate weight. Lots of dark spice here, and there’s opulent fruit, but there’s so much minerality and salinity on the finish, and so much power. This is impressively textured, and very long.