The Freie Weingartner 2007 Gruner Veltliner Smaragd Kellerberg was still on its fine lees when I last tasted it and was not to have been bottled before September, but the outlines of its personality were clearer than the liquid in the glass. Grapefruit, snap pea and gooseberry in the nose could be a blend with Sauvignon Blanc. Combining palate richness and deeper notes of beet root and coffee with a positive sense of rhubarb-like phenolic cut and refreshment, this finishes with the site typical black peppery pungency. It should be at least a 6-8 year keeper. Roman Horvath and Heinz Frischengruber are on a roll now, so one wants to root for their retaining the marvelous value that has distinguished Freie Weingartner wines in their best periods, because top-flight Wachau wines at prices like theirs are scarcely available anywhere else. Yields on Gruner Veltliner in 2007 were a bit high for optimal, Frischengruber opines, but then, the yields in Riesling obviously came at the expense of botrytis. And it goes without saying that selectivity is a challenge in coop situations, even though one which the team here has previously proven themselves capable of meeting. Nearly 40% of production was picked as Steinfeder, a quality grade all but missing last year, and whose volume in this vintage permitted enhanced attention to the fruit that remained for Federspiel and Smaragd. All of the wines reviewed below are bottled under the -Domane Wachau- label.Importer: Vin Divino, Chicago, IL; tel. (773) 334-6700.
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