2016 Grüner Veltliner Supperin Wachau Pichler-Krutzler

Rich and ripe with a ton of fruit spanning the range from apple through exotics. Plenty of freshness and lovely balance so that this tastes lighter than it is. There are some discrete tannins supporting the structure at the long, mineral finish. Drink or hold.

From 85-year-old vines on lighter gneiss soil, fermented in large oak and aged on the full lees until June, the 2016 Dürnsteiner Grüner Veltliner Ried Supperin opens with a deep, clear, fresh and aromatic fruit bouquet intertwined with delicate lemon and flinty aromas. This Supperin is so terroir- driven that I wouldn't be able to say whether it is Riesling or Grüner Veltliner if I was served this wine blind. Medium to full- bodied, round, vital and very elegant on the palate, this is a pure, lush and salty Supperin with fine grip and a stimulating, pretty long and intense finish, with classic Grüner Veltliner flavors in the aftertaste. Tasted from the bottle in August 2017. 2019 - 2036.

Salty, smoky and intriguingly animal notes confront one on the nose, reminding me of consuming steamed crab at the seashore. Wax bean and pea tendril supply Grüner Veltliner typicity on the nose as well as on a glossy, schmaltzy midpalate, which continues to benefit from such mouthwatering and intriguing animal and mineral notes as were announced on the nose, and to which the generously juicy finish is admirably transparent. The sweet-saline aspect here is thoroughly mouthwatering, and for all of the midpalate gloss, not only is there the sort of "vertical, straight" sense to the finish for which Krutzler professes to be striving, but there is also a lettuce-like sense of subtle, stimulating piquancy and juicy crunch. Thanks to some recent acquisitions adjoining the original holdings in the Superin, this bottling is now informed by four parcels. 2018 - 2025.