2024 FX Pichler "Ried Steinertal" Wachau Riesling

Steinertal, between Loibenberg and Pfaffenberg at the eastern end of the Wachau, is the coolest and slowest-ripening of FX Pichler's Loiben sites: an amphitheater of acidic, lime-free Gfohler gneiss at 230 to 300 meters, cooled by air from the forest. Pichler was among the first Austrian estates collectors sought out, and for many cellars built between 2000 and 2015 it was the Austrian estate, known then for rich, very ripe wines that later lost favor with sommeliers. Lucas Pichler, the seventh generation, has since returned the wines to classic balance and a sharper sense of place, and leaving Vinea Wachau in 2020 frees harvest timing from the Smaragd category's ripeness minimums. Falstaff, Austria's leading wine guide, records the 2024 as raised in steel and large wood with about 5 grams of residual sugar. Imported by Weygandt-Metzler, active in fine European wine since 1987.