Schloss Gobelsburg Riesling Auslese, Kamptal, Austria

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The Gobelsburg 2010 Riesling Auslese – originating in both Gaisberg and Heiligenstein – displays the citrus oil pungency found in its dry counterparts, but here heightened by acidity that is piercingly – not to mention (at 13 grams!) analytically – high, an apparent legacy of fruit having hung through repeated frost, and which is somewhat awkwardly juxtaposed to this wine’s sweetness. That said, there is formidable concentration under foot here, and a finish that is juicy and invigorating by way of zest and mineral tang. I do miss the floral dimension that is part of the signature of the Heiligenstein. In any event, one will have to hold this for at least 6-8 years in order to give it a chance of achieving a less divisive personality and perhaps revealing unanticipated beauty. Michael Moosbrugger pointed out to me this June that those who wait until the second half of November to harvest – by which time he tries always to have finished most of his picking – nearly always incur additional concentration of acidity through frost, which then requires compensatory additional hang time to soften. And 2010 flirted with frost already in October, although luckily the weather cooperated through most of November. High acids were dealt with in the estate wines – where deemed necessary – by permitting some lots to undergo malo-lactic transformation. It’s hard to believe in retrospect how rapidly after taking over Schloss Gobelsburg in 1996, Moosbrugger – with several initial years of collaboration by Willi Brundlmayer – brought this ancient monastic estate to the forefront of Austrian viticulture. But some of the things he claims to have only properly appreciated in very recent years and says will have a profound influence on future wines sound deceptively simple. In the matter of yields, for example, Moosbrugger opines that it took a while to acquire and genuinely appreciate the insight “not to have too many bunches of grapes, but also not too few. In 2006, for instance, we probably had too few. With a few more clusters per vine, the wines are intensive enough, and the alcohol isn’t too elevated.” It’s hard to argue in the face of the balance and expressiveness Moosbrugger has achieved in such dramatically different and distinctively difficult vintages as 2009 and 2010. He is, incidentally, no partisan of entirely organic viticulture, believing in particular that for combating peronospora (downy mildew) certain synthetic systemic and topical treatments are both more effective and environmentally superior to a default use of copper sulfate.Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300

Moosbrugger’s 2007 Riesling Auslese is like a honey-drizzled lime and kiwi sorbet. Cooling, soothing, sappy, and refreshing, this is not terribly complex, but it is remarkably poised. A hint of apricot preserve and caramel creeps into a bright, open, almost airy finish. This too should prove a delight over the next 5-7 years, but probably not prove capable of standing up to any but the least sweet of simple fruit desserts. That these Auslese bottlings were raised entirely in tank has no doubt helped preserve their clarity and uncanny balance; Moosbrugger has frequently favored barrel-fermentation for nobly sweet wines that he considers more profound. Michael Moosbrugger did not begin his main white wine harvest – even for lighter-weight Gruner Veltliner – until mid-October. Unlike most Krems area growers he also picked nobly sweet wine, based on a late bloom of botrytis. Moosbrugger seems to have achieved some (considering the weather) surprisingly successful reds in 2007, having painstakingly cut off half of each cluster to inhibit the development of rot, then harvested prior to any of his whites. (I’ll report on those reds after I have re-tasted them from bottle. For notes on two outstanding 2006 vintage reds which have since lived up to their promise in bottle, consult my report in issue 177.)Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300