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Product Name
Vintage
Price
Varietal
Country
Region
Appellation
Size
Additional Discount
Original Item
2008
$104.74
Riesling
Austria
Wachau
750ml
N/A
Better Price
2022
$84.93
Riesling
Austria
Wachau
750ml
6B / $83.23
Better Price, Better Score
2022
$74.15
Riesling
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Wachau
750ml
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More wines available from Franz Xaver Pichler
1.5Ltr - 1 Bottle
Bottle:
$221.20
Super-concentrated and super-elegant, this is as refined as dry riesling can be. And after you’ve taken in the...
750ml - 1 Bottle
Bottle:
$582.08
More Details
Winery
Franz Xaver Pichler
Vintage: 2008
2008 saw very high yields across wineries in much of the southern hemisphere, as a result of highly favorable climatic conditions. Although in many areas, these high yields brought with them something of a drop in overall quality, this could not be said for South Australia's wines, which were reportedly excellent. Indeed, the 2008 Shiraz harvest in South Australia is said to be one of the most successful in recent decades, and western Australia's Chardonnays are set to be ones to watch out for. New Zealand's Pinot Noir harvest was also very good, with wineries in Martinborough reportedly very excited about this particular grape and the characteristics it revealed this year.
Pinot Noir also grew very well in the United States, and was probably the most successful grape varietal to come out of California in 2008, with Sonoma Coast and Anderson Valley delivering fantastic results from this grape. Elsewhere in United States, Washington State and Oregon had highly successful harvests in 2008 despite some early worries about frost.
However, it was France who had the best of the weather and growing conditions in 2008, and this year was one of the great vintages for Champagne, the Médoc in Bordeaux, Languedoc-Roussillon and Provence, with Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay grapes leading the way. Italy, too, shared many of these ideal conditions, with the wineries in Tuscany claiming that their Chianti Classicos of 2008 will be ones to collect, and Piedmont's Barberesco and Barolo wines will be recognized as amongst the finest of the past decade.
Varietal: Riesling
Riesling grapes have produced some of the finest wines of the Old World over the past couple of centuries, and are quickly becoming much loved by New World audiences as their influence continues to spread across the globe. They are generally grown and cultivated in colder climates, as is found in their native Germany, where they have the remarkable ability to pick up and express interesting features of their terroir, or the ground on which they are grown. As such, wine enthusiasts generally find Riesling one of the more interesting white grape varietals, as they produce aromas which are highly floral and perfumed alongside both fruit flavors and refreshing notes of stone and alpine water, depending on where they have been grown. Furthermore, Riesling grapes produce a large variety of fine wines, from still to sparkling, sweet to dry, and wineries which work with this grape have long since been experimenting with both frozen and rotten grapes to find out just how versatile and exciting this varietal can be.
Region: Wachau
When it comes to the wines of Austria, it is widely considered that the finest by far are those which come out of the grand and elegant Wachau region in the south of the country. Wachau has been an important wine producing region for over two thousand years, and was originally used by the Romans, who noticed its fine potential for producing characterful and flavorful white and red wines. Wachau benefits enormously from the beautifully sunny and warm climate which it shares with western Hungary, and the ancient and impressive river Danube which runs through it, bringing minerals and much needed nutrients to the vineyards. As such, the Gruner Veltliner and Riesling grapes which cover most of the region's vineyards are able to express some interesting features of their fine terroir, as they ripen slowly and fully under the sun each year.
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.