September 2023 Tasting Report: Austria’s Dry Whites Deliver and Hitting New Heights in Spain

September was a colossal tasting month at JamesSuckling.com. We rated an even 3,600 wines from 19 countries as we march toward rating well over 35,000 bottles for the year. There was plenty of quality, too, with 13 100- or 99-point wines on our list and 415 offerings that received scores of 95 points or higher. Italy was at the top of our tasting charts, contributing 1,292 wines, followed by Austria with 679 wines, the U.S. with 417, Australia with 315, Germany with 307 and Spain with 268.

It was Austria, though, that delivered seven of our 13 top-scoring wines. Senior Editor Stuart Pigott and Associate Editor Claire Nesbitt were in the country to taste dry whites from the recently bottled 2022 vintage, but it was 2021 where we found perfection in the form of the F.X. Pichler Riesling Wachau Unendlich 2021 and F.X. Pichler Grüner Veltliner Wachau Unendlich 2021. These two standouts were “enormously concentrated but impeccably balanced wines that exemplify all the qualities that make Austrian dry white wines special,” Stuart said.

The 2022 vintage was more challenging than 2021 due to the way the hot and dry early summer was followed by heavy rains in August, and the dry whites from that year have a pronounced acidity, and when the wines had enough ripeness and depth there was wonderful brilliance, as happened with the  Franz Hirtzberger Riesling Wachau Ried Singerriedel Smaragd 2022 – “a really great example of a wine marrying the whiplash acidity of the vintage with mandarin orange, mango and persimmon fruit,” according to Stuart.

At the Single Vineyard Summit of the OTW (Osterreichische Traditionsweinguter, an association of winegrowers in the Danube region), Stuart and Claire encountered the Hirsch Riesling Kampal Heiligenstein-Rotfels EL 2022, whose white peach fruit, floral honey character and crushed rock character were “exactly matched.”

Stuart was of the opinion that this will soon become a new cult wine. They also found two terrific 2022 wines when they visited Toni Bodenstein of Weingut Prager in the Wachau. The Prager Riesling Wachau Klaus Smaragd 2022 is a seamless, long and deep white that  will reward a few more years in bottle, while the Prager Grüner Veltliner Wachau Zwerithaler Kammergut Smaragd 2022 shows intense aromas and weighty layers of yellow and orange fruit.

Another spectacular entry from the Pichler family, meanwhile, was the Rudi Pichler Riesling Wachau Ried Achleithen Smaragd 2022, which Stuart called “a dry riesling masterpiece that’s delicious now but has enormous aging potential.

Stuart and Claire also tasted some stunning dry whites from the Steiermark region, including the Wohlmuth Sauvignon Blanc Südsteiermark Ried Edelschuh GSTK 2021 and Tement Sauvignon Blanc Südsteiermark Ried Zieregg Kapelle GSTK 2020, which impressed the most out of all the Steiermark wines we tasted with their length and focus.

2021 produced some terrific red wines as well, especially from the blaufrankisch grape, which is widely planted in the expansive Burgenland region and the much smaller Carnuntum. Stuart found the Moric Blaufrankisch Burgenland Lutzmannsburg Alte Reben 2021 to have enormous aromatic complexity – everything from floral notes to pepper and licorice – with the super-mineral acidity pushing the finish out toward the edge of the known red wine universe.

The 2020 blaufrankisch red wines from Dorli Muhr in the Carnuntum region must also be mentioned, especially the Dorli Muhr Blaufränkisch Carnuntum Spitzerberg-Obere Spitzer 2020 – “a unique wine that marries concentrated berry aromas with beautifully integrated tannins, much in the fashion of a Grand Cru red Burgundy.”

A RUN OF RIESLINGS FROM GERMANY

Stuart’s continued tasting of German wines included the new vintage of dry single-vineyard GG offerings produced by the members of Germany’s VDP producers association, with the standout being the Schäfer-Fröhlich Riesling Nahe Felseneck GG 2022 – an amazingly harmonious wine bursting with spice, smoke, pomelo and grapefruit on the super-concentrated palate. Another terrific GG came from the Peter Lauer winery on the Saar – the Peter Lauer Riesling Mosel Schonfels GG No.11 2022, which Stuart said “effortlessly cut through all the nonsense about 2022 being a soft vintage of easygoing wines in Germany.”

For those producers who release their dry riesling GGs two years after harvest, the Kloster Eberbach Riesling Rheingau Steinberg Goldener Becher GG 2021, made by winemaker Kathrin Puff, was among the exemplars not only for its enormous minerality and structure but also for the way it shimmers with floral, salty and stony character.

More goodness from the Rheingau came by way of another woman winemaker, Eva Fricke. Stuart called the intensely flinty and citric Eva Fricke Riesling Rheingau Krone Trocken 2022 “one of the most concentrated dry wines of the vintage in Germany,” while the Eva Fricke Riesling Rheingau Schlossberg 2022 is more succulent and juicy. Both, however, are made for long aging. And even higher-rated than either of these wines is the lusciously sweet Eva Fricke Riesling Rheingau Schlossberg Beerenauslese 2022 – “a very rare spectacular botrytis wine for the 2022 vintage that has so much floral honey character  you can almost hear the bees buzzing,” Stuart said of it.

In the Saar wine region of Germany, Stuart hooked up with leading Middle Mosel producer Markus Molitor, who has been refashioning the historic Domaine Serrig, now known as Ehemalige Domane Serrig. Molitor makes just two wines per vintage, and his latest, the Ehemalige Domäne Serrig Riesling Mosel Vogelsang Grosse Lage 2020 and Ehemalige Domäne Serrig Riesling Mosel Vogelsang Kabinett 2020, are both examples of Molitor’s exultant style.

FOCUSING ON PLACE

James and Senior Editor Zekun Shuai tasted a number of wines in Spain during the month, with a special focus on the region of Gredos as well as Ribera del Duero and Rioja. It’s also where our third 100-point wine came from, the Alvaro Palacios Priorat L'Ermita 2021, a garnacha that hits new heights of refinement and freshness. It’s just one of the Alvaro Palacios wines that hit just the right tones of balance, captivating complexity and exquisite finesse, along with the equally stunning Alvaro Palacios Priorat La Baixada 2021.

In Rioja, Telmo Rodriguez once again made an impression with his  soulful and balanced wines, from his hand-crated single vineyard red, Yjar, to his fabulously energetic barrel-fermented viura called Granja de Nuestra Seńora de Remelluri. Such wines, Rodriguez said, illustrate what the region should be doing: focusing on places and not on aging methods like the designations of crianza, reserva and gran reserva.

In Ribera del Duero, French winemaker Bertrand Sourdais runs the project Dominio de Es, made up of La Diva, La Mata and Carravilla crus. La Diva’s soil of pure sand over calcareous rock gives an ethereal, almost pinot-like sensibility to the 600 to 700 bottles of wine produced, with the 2021 vintage of La Diva the most refined and Burgundy-like wine among the three crus.

READ MORE SPAIN ANNUAL REPORT: TRADITION UNBOUND AND THE QUEST FOR DRINKABILITY

Out Italy tastings in September included the 200-plus Brunello di Montalcinos that James rated separately for our annual report on the region. He also tasted late-released or re-released Brunello riservas, including the top-rated Col d’Orcia Brunello di Montalcino Poggio al Vento Riserva 2016, which shows all the structure and intensity of a 2016 Brunello but has a real complexity and depth already due to the extra bottle age at the winery. Biondi-Santi’s re-release of two riservas – the 2010 and 1988 – are also worth checking out.

Older wines also came into play during James’ tasting at the Alto Adige winery Cantina Terlano. He said he was “blown away” by two aged whites from 1955 and 1983 that were so complex and rich yet remained fresh and youthful. The former was a blend of pinot bianco, chardonnay and sauvignon blanc while the 1983 was a pure pinot bianco.

During his trip to the Etna region of Italy, James visited the wineries of Frank Cornelissen and Passopisciaro. Cornellissen’s new red from a vineyard in Contrada Scimonetta exemplified how all of his wines are bright and pure with a vivid transparency due to his low-intervention winemaking and no wood aging. The team at Passopisciaro, meanwhile, make equally compelling reds and whites as Cornelissen, with their Passopisciaro Terre Sicliane Bianco Contada PC 2021 – a chardonnay – one of the best whites James has had from Etna this year.

AUSTRALIA AND BEYOND

Senior Editor Ned Goodwin MW tasted widely throughout Australia during the month, and he stopped in at Tyrrell’s winery in Hunter Valley, which is one of the oldest, continually operating wineries in the country. Led by Chris Tyrrell and chief winemaker Andrew Spinaze, Tyrrell’s serves up semillon from its Belford vineyard that boasts lemongrass freshness and “kaleidoscopic textural persuasion” often rivaling the venerated Vat 1 semillon bottling. Tyrrell’s Stevens Semillon, meanwhile, tastes like freshly made lemonade and barley sugar, according to Ned.

Tyrrell’s crown jewels, though, are the so-called Sacred Sites, which are largely nestled in the foothills of Brokenback Mountain and include Ned’s more elegant favorite, the 4 Acres Shiraz, planted in 1879, as well as the 8 Acres Shiraz, of 1892, with similar yellowish red clay over limestone.

Ned also tasted  some delicious wines that served as affirmation of the meteoric rise in the quality of rosé in the country, the intuitive nature of mourvedre, a grape that was once much more widely planted, as well as a more laissez-faire approach to many of the better rieslings.

At Tripe.Iscariot, a winery in Margaret River, their Grenache Rosé Aspic 2022 “brought thrills with a chill,” according to Ned. “This is a dangerous, mid-weighted dry style to be drunk in large drafts, such is the confluence of textural complexity and thirst-slaking freshness,” he said of it.

From the Great Southern in Western Australia came the Swinney Mourvèdre 2023, which Ned called “a powerful expression that is briny, chewy and gorgeous in its savory guise, with accents of tapenade, saddle leather, sweet loamy earth, martini brine, menthol and violet notes.”

Ned also dropped into Japan for a tasting trip, where he found wines of a homegrown provenance, often without the acidity and tannins that wines of the Western world come with. One Japanese winemaker who Ned says sees wine through a purely Japanese lens is Atsuo Yamanaka of Domaine Mont in the Yoichi region, whose Pinot Gris Dom Gris 2020 and 2018 “scuttle the varietal paradigm while shapeshifting the tenets of quality” and are renowned locally for ageability founded on extended skin maceration and 100 percent whole bunch.

Paso Robles, Oregon and Greece also featured in our September tastings. In Greece, James tasted the new releases from T-Oinos, whose wines, he said, all have superb clarity and energy, especially the whites from assyrtiko like the T-Oinos Assyrtiko Cyclades Clos Stegasta Rare 2022.

Stuart said he tasted the best dry rieslings he had ever encountered from Oregon in the Brooks Riesling Willamette Valley Ara 2021, which has enveloping tech, nectarine and mandarin orange aromas with a whiff of flint. And he called an Oregon pinot noir, the Brooks Pinot Noir Willamette Valley Eola-Amity Hills Rastaban 2021, “almost perfect,” and  “as sensationally vibrant and precise as it is concentrated.”

A handful of remarkable wines shined from Paso Robles, starting with those of Linne Calodo and winemaker Matt Trevisan, who crafts dry-farmed blends full of character, such as Rising Tides and In My Dreams. The vitality and energy is obvious in his wines, and his cuvee Cherry Red, which is based around dry-farmed zinfandel, is a prototypical beauty for the genre, with an elegant floral nose and a plush and harmonious palate with excellent texture and length.

– Vince Morkri, Managing Editor

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