More wines available from Rudi Pichler
750ml
Bottle:
$27.94
Grüner Veltliner is the signature grape of Austria and produces a dry white wine with savory aromas, spicy flavors,...
750ml
Bottle:
$89.84
One of the most extraordinary gruner veltliners of the vintage. Still very young, this great wine has an astonishing...
750ml - 1 Bottle
Bottle:
$51.95
Grüner Veltliner is the signature grape of Austria and produces a dry white wine with savory aromas, spicy flavors,...
750ml
Bottle:
$41.00
Soil characteristics of many small, excellent sites come together so nicely in this wine: fine minerality, subtle...
750ml
Bottle:
$86.95
Wachau Riesling is dry and often defined by high levels of dry extract (due to a lengthy ripening period) and a...
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Winery
Rudi Pichler
Vintage: 2007
2007 was the year that saw California's wine industry pick up once again, after a troubling couple of years. Indeed, all across the state of California, fantastic harvests were reported as a result of fine weather conditions throughout the flowering and ripening periods, and Napa Valley and Santa Barbera wines were widely considered amongst the best in the world in 2007, with Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes packing in all sorts of fine and desirable features in this year. South Africa, too, had a much-needed fantastic year for red wines, with Pinotage particularly displaying strong characteristics, alongside the country's other flagship red wine grape varietals.
Over in Europe, France had another fine year, especially for white wines. Champagne wineries were very happy with their Chardonnay harvests, and the Loire Valley and Graves in Bordeaux are proclaiming 2007 to be a memorable year due to the quality of their white wine grapes. For French red wines, Provence had their best year for almost a decade, as did the Southern Rhone. However, 2007 was most favorable to Italy, who saw high yields of exceptional quality across almost all of their major wine producing regions. Tuscany is claiming to have produced its best Chianti and Brunello wines for several years in 2007, and Piedmont and Veneto had a wonderful year for red wines. For Italian white wines, 2007 was an extremely successful year for Alto Adige and Campania. Germany also had a very good 2007, with Riesling displaying extremely dry and crisp characteristics, as did Portugal, where Port wine from 2007 is said to be one to collect.
Varietal: Riesling
The pale skinned fruits of the Riesling grapevine have been grown in and around Germany's Rhine Valley for centuries, and contributed much to the country's wine culture. Today, Riesling grapes are grown and processed in several countries around the world, where they are prized for their ability to grow well in colder climates, and their unique flavors and characteristics. Riesling grapes produce an impressive array of wines, including fine semi sweet and dessert wines, to excellent dry white wines and sparkling varieties, all which allow the grape to shine through as a premier example of an excellent white wine varietal. One of the things which makes Riesling such a special grape is the fact that it is highly 'terroir expressive', meaning that the features of the land it is grown on can come across well in the flavors and aromas in the wine. As such, it isn't unusual to find flavors of white stone, or smoky ash-like notes in a fine Riesling alongside the more usual orchard fruit flavors more commonly associated with good white wines.
Region: Wachau
When it comes to Austrian wine, the one region which is widely considered to stand head and shoulders above the rest is the Wachau. Located in the beautiful lower parts of the country, along the banks of the mighty river Danube, the vineyards of Wachau have been producing high quality white and red wines for centuries, and were once considered amongst the finest in Europe. Indeed, during the heights of the Austro-Hungarian empire, Wachau wines were amongst the favorites of the crowned heads of Europe, and they remain popular today with those seeking the ultimate in elegance and refinement. The vast majority of wines made in the Wachau region are produced from the grapes of the Gruner Veltliner and Riesling varietals, two grapes which are perfectly suited to the climatic conditions and soil type of the region.
Country: Austria
Austria is a fascinating country when it comes to wine production, and with a wine culture that stretches back over four thousand years, it is one of the oldest viticultural centers in the world. Today, it is the Grüner Veltliner varietal grape which is the most widely grown and processed, producing elegant dry white wines, and very flavorful and aromatic sweet wines enjoyed to a great extent by local communities, and which are beginning to receive the recognition they deserve by the global wine market. Austria's eastern flatlands benefit from fertile and mineral rich soils, fed by the great river Danube, as well as the long hot summers the country enjoys with low precipitation. Today, over fifty thousand hectares of Austrian land is under vine, and even within the city limits of Vienna, high quality wine is produced and enjoyed.