Gonna keep this brief… supply is VERY Limited. And whatever y'all don't buy is coming home with me! Such is my love for this wine.  Reply to order. Available Tuesday.

Alzinger Ried Loibenberg Smaragd Wachau Grüner Veltliner 2019

Sale $49.99

98 pts Wine Enthusiast / 94-96 pts Falstaff

“A touch of savory yeast slowly emerges on the closed nose. The taut but concentrated palate then adds its yeasty, salty, crushed dandelion flavors to the picture. This is bright and fresh, wonderfully tight and concentrated, just waiting to unfold layer upon layer of salty umami pleasure. Slender, tight and full of promise, it ends on a flash of citrus. Drink 2025–2050.” WE

“Inviting scent of honeymelon, a touch of fresh orange zest, fine minerality, attractive bouquet. Complex, juicy silky texture, delicate yellow tropical fruit, fine-rich acid arch, harmonious and well-adhesive, balanced companion at the table.” Falstaff

Leo Alzinger is located in Unterloiben, just across the street from Knoll. Leo owns parcels in two of the great vineyards in this part of the river valley: Loibenberg and Steinertal. Loibenberg is a towering, terraced hillside, while the diminutive (5.5 hectare) Steinertal is hidden and maintains a cooler micro-climate. On the terraced vineyards of both sites, Riesling is cultivated on the higher, more primary rock rich parcels while Grüner Veltliner is cultivated on the lower, silty, loess based parcels.

Leo Alzinger Jr took over the family domaine in 2002 after returning from harvest in New Zealand. Prior to that he traveled to other regions to gain more experience and was fortunate to spend time with legendary winemaker Hans Günter Schwarz just prior to his retirement in 2002.  “The most significant experience came with my work in the Pfalz at Müller-Catoir in the vintage 2000. Hans Günter Schwarz revealed things in the cellar, small details that gave stronger impressions of vineyard and place. He taught me not to be afraid of skin contact, that good grapes will give good phenols, for example. How important work with the lees is and many other things.”

Harvest at Alzinger happens later than some of Leo’s neighbors in Unterloiben, something he attributes to old vines and the specific exposition of his parcels. The extra time on the vine doesn’t increase sugar levels, Leo says, but rather pushes physiological ripeness to greater balance. Alzinger crushes whole cluster with a short maceration, then allows the must to settle for 24 hours, dropping any green tannins out. Tasting the wines next to some of the other Wachau greats, it becomes apparent that elegance and pristine fruit is what Leo looks for in winemaking, rather than opulence. Alzinger’s wines are never forceful or assertive; they are instead amazingly sanguine and calmly transparent.