Austria/Germany
2014 Schäfer-Fröhlich Bockenauer Felseneck Riesling Großes Gewächs: This drank really well. The nose was infused with petrol, flint, and floral aromatics. The palate was quite silky, sleek, and airy with citrus, a subtle hint of smoke, and firm minerality. Framed with well-integrated and elegant acidity that was refreshing, but not overly aggressive. Very well balanced and intensely flavored, but delicate and light on its feet.
2013 Weingut Hirsch Riesling Reserve Gaisberg: This wine has done a good job of balancing its relatively heavy-body with freshness. Although there is still plenty of ripeness from the yellow fruit, there is ample tension from the acidity to keep this from feeling overdone and ponderous. There are also interesting layers of petrol and flinty minerality on the nose and palate to add complexity. Good stuff (and I say this as someone who usually prefers more delicate German dry Rieslings).
2020 Christian Tschida Himmel auf Erden: Definitely edgy and natural, but clean and well-balanced. A bit peppery and spicy with a cutting minerality and a very linear and lean palate profile. No mouse or brett, and the VA adds lift and character and does not detract. When told this was 100% Pinot Blanc, I could see the sharpness of the wine as a reflection of the variety. Nice.
2005 Weingut Josef Högl Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Schön: Airy, delicate weight and texture with flavors that are at this point quite tertiary and mineral with just an undertone of fruit. Hints of bitter herbs, white pepper and citrus oil, the palate is actually quite persistent and the finish quite long. Perhaps a little hollow in the midpalate, but otherwise, a very nice wine from a producer I'm wholly unfamiliar with.
2022 Willi Schaefer Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Kabinett #2: Quite easy to drink, but perhaps beginning to shut down a little. While the primary fruit is lovely, it is beginning to come across as a little syrupy and is lacking tension. It may be a product of there not being enough acidity to begin with (I didn't try this on release), but probably will just sit on my other bottles for a couple of years.
2023 Hofgut Falkenstein Krettnacher Euchariusberg Riesling Kabinett "Kugel Peter" #12 (August 2025): Rather slim and elegant in profile with juicy acidity nicely balancing the residual sugar. Enjoyable.
2023 Hofgut Falkenstein Krettnacher Euchariusberg Riesling Kabinett "Kugel Peter" #12 (January 2026): This bottle was surprisingly savory and salty, and seemed less sweet than a true kabinett. Nice acidity, juicy white fruit, and well balanced. Very crushable and easy to drink. Tbh, I had forgotten that I had this bottle a couple of months earlier until I wrote up these notes, so I’m not sure whether the wine presented differently back in August.
2023 Hofgut Falkenstein Niedermenniger Herrenberg Riesling Spätlese feinherb "Meyer Nepal" #11: No formal note, but this was archetypally slim, racy and bright; typique for this cuvee. I liked the 2024 I had with this better, but this was still plenty energetic and full of that Saar energy.
2024 Falkensteins (Gisela, Mia, Kugel Peter, Meyer Nepal, Onkel Peter, Palm): I did a horizontal with some folks of the 2024 wines, and I just didn’t really have it in me that night to write down notes. But, I was really pleased with all of them.
The ‘24 Gisela had a lot more lively acidity and tension than the ‘22, but was also a little gentler and easier to drink than the ‘21 (I have not had the ‘23 Gisela yet, so I can’t make a comparison).
‘24 Mia was unfortunately corked.
‘24 Kugel Peter was quite tasty, though I don’t really think it was that much better than the ‘23 Kugel Peter (though I'm just going on my recollection here).
The Spatlese/Kabinett Feinherbs were also quite good. Onkel Peter, despite being a Kabinett Feinherb, I believe, actually seemed the ripest/sweetest to my palate. Meyer Nepal and Palm both seemed a little better balanced and tensed, with Meyer Nepal having this cool, icy, almost smoky minerality compared to the “warmer” Palm. All three were excellent though, and would be happy to drink all of them again.
Spain
2020 Do Ferreiro Albariño Rías Baixas Adina: Lean, racy, and fresh with nice salinity graced with notes of lemon, herbs, and a stony minerality. Nice tension on the palate from the acidity. Shares a lot of characteristics with other maritime terroirs like Muscadet or vineyards in Etna that grow Carricante.
2020 Comando G Vinos de Madrid Camino del Pilar: A wild, feral wine that has a lot of complexity to it: firm minerality, bright acids, yellow fruit inflected with subtle notes of savory nuttiness. Racy, saline, refreshing, and long. It kind of reminds me of a top-tier ouille Jura white.
United States
2018 Peay Vineyards Viognier Estate: Nice acidity considering this is a Viognier. While it has that rich, oily texture that I normally get from Rhone whites, this has a lot more freshness and the minerality is a little bit more pronounced. It has a nice balance that is very different from the blowsier wines that I normally associate with this variety. Definitely not at Georges Vernay level, but there is stylistic kinship there.
2014 Littorai Pinot Noir Les Larmes: Very elegant on the palate with lots of red cherry on the nose and palate. Acidity is quite firm and mouthwatering, tannins seem very ripe and silky, and the palate is dominated by rich red fruit.
2014 MacDonald Cabernet Sauvignon: Quite ripe and supple, but also balanced and elegant, bursting with bright purple fruit on the palate. Tannins are basically melted and silky. Not a ton of mineral or earthy complexity, definitely leaning into the fruit basket aspect of Cabernet rather than the cigar box, but it is quite sappy fun that avoids being ponderous, overdone, or overly alcoholic.
Australia
1999 Wendouree Shiraz: Big, ripe, in-your-face wine that is incredibly savory, stony and herbal. Tastes like they melted a stick of sugarless black licorice with a slab of slate: the powerful notes of anise, eucalyptus, iodine and minerals season the intense pitch-black fruit. Wow, a slap in the face, but really impressively balanced considering its scale.
2014 Schäfer-Fröhlich Bockenauer Felseneck Riesling Großes Gewächs: This drank really well. The nose was infused with petrol, flint, and floral aromatics. The palate was quite silky, sleek, and airy with citrus, a subtle hint of smoke, and firm minerality. Framed with well-integrated and elegant acidity that was refreshing, but not overly aggressive. Very well balanced and intensely flavored, but delicate and light on its feet.
2013 Weingut Hirsch Riesling Reserve Gaisberg: This wine has done a good job of balancing its relatively heavy-body with freshness. Although there is still plenty of ripeness from the yellow fruit, there is ample tension from the acidity to keep this from feeling overdone and ponderous. There are also interesting layers of petrol and flinty minerality on the nose and palate to add complexity. Good stuff (and I say this as someone who usually prefers more delicate German dry Rieslings).
2020 Christian Tschida Himmel auf Erden: Definitely edgy and natural, but clean and well-balanced. A bit peppery and spicy with a cutting minerality and a very linear and lean palate profile. No mouse or brett, and the VA adds lift and character and does not detract. When told this was 100% Pinot Blanc, I could see the sharpness of the wine as a reflection of the variety. Nice.
2005 Weingut Josef Högl Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Schön: Airy, delicate weight and texture with flavors that are at this point quite tertiary and mineral with just an undertone of fruit. Hints of bitter herbs, white pepper and citrus oil, the palate is actually quite persistent and the finish quite long. Perhaps a little hollow in the midpalate, but otherwise, a very nice wine from a producer I'm wholly unfamiliar with.
2022 Willi Schaefer Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Kabinett #2: Quite easy to drink, but perhaps beginning to shut down a little. While the primary fruit is lovely, it is beginning to come across as a little syrupy and is lacking tension. It may be a product of there not being enough acidity to begin with (I didn't try this on release), but probably will just sit on my other bottles for a couple of years.
2023 Hofgut Falkenstein Krettnacher Euchariusberg Riesling Kabinett "Kugel Peter" #12 (August 2025): Rather slim and elegant in profile with juicy acidity nicely balancing the residual sugar. Enjoyable.
2023 Hofgut Falkenstein Krettnacher Euchariusberg Riesling Kabinett "Kugel Peter" #12 (January 2026): This bottle was surprisingly savory and salty, and seemed less sweet than a true kabinett. Nice acidity, juicy white fruit, and well balanced. Very crushable and easy to drink. Tbh, I had forgotten that I had this bottle a couple of months earlier until I wrote up these notes, so I’m not sure whether the wine presented differently back in August.
2023 Hofgut Falkenstein Niedermenniger Herrenberg Riesling Spätlese feinherb "Meyer Nepal" #11: No formal note, but this was archetypally slim, racy and bright; typique for this cuvee. I liked the 2024 I had with this better, but this was still plenty energetic and full of that Saar energy.
2024 Falkensteins (Gisela, Mia, Kugel Peter, Meyer Nepal, Onkel Peter, Palm): I did a horizontal with some folks of the 2024 wines, and I just didn’t really have it in me that night to write down notes. But, I was really pleased with all of them.
The ‘24 Gisela had a lot more lively acidity and tension than the ‘22, but was also a little gentler and easier to drink than the ‘21 (I have not had the ‘23 Gisela yet, so I can’t make a comparison).
‘24 Mia was unfortunately corked.
‘24 Kugel Peter was quite tasty, though I don’t really think it was that much better than the ‘23 Kugel Peter (though I'm just going on my recollection here).
The Spatlese/Kabinett Feinherbs were also quite good. Onkel Peter, despite being a Kabinett Feinherb, I believe, actually seemed the ripest/sweetest to my palate. Meyer Nepal and Palm both seemed a little better balanced and tensed, with Meyer Nepal having this cool, icy, almost smoky minerality compared to the “warmer” Palm. All three were excellent though, and would be happy to drink all of them again.
Spain
2020 Do Ferreiro Albariño Rías Baixas Adina: Lean, racy, and fresh with nice salinity graced with notes of lemon, herbs, and a stony minerality. Nice tension on the palate from the acidity. Shares a lot of characteristics with other maritime terroirs like Muscadet or vineyards in Etna that grow Carricante.
2020 Comando G Vinos de Madrid Camino del Pilar: A wild, feral wine that has a lot of complexity to it: firm minerality, bright acids, yellow fruit inflected with subtle notes of savory nuttiness. Racy, saline, refreshing, and long. It kind of reminds me of a top-tier ouille Jura white.
United States
2018 Peay Vineyards Viognier Estate: Nice acidity considering this is a Viognier. While it has that rich, oily texture that I normally get from Rhone whites, this has a lot more freshness and the minerality is a little bit more pronounced. It has a nice balance that is very different from the blowsier wines that I normally associate with this variety. Definitely not at Georges Vernay level, but there is stylistic kinship there.
2014 Littorai Pinot Noir Les Larmes: Very elegant on the palate with lots of red cherry on the nose and palate. Acidity is quite firm and mouthwatering, tannins seem very ripe and silky, and the palate is dominated by rich red fruit.
2014 MacDonald Cabernet Sauvignon: Quite ripe and supple, but also balanced and elegant, bursting with bright purple fruit on the palate. Tannins are basically melted and silky. Not a ton of mineral or earthy complexity, definitely leaning into the fruit basket aspect of Cabernet rather than the cigar box, but it is quite sappy fun that avoids being ponderous, overdone, or overly alcoholic.
Australia
1999 Wendouree Shiraz: Big, ripe, in-your-face wine that is incredibly savory, stony and herbal. Tastes like they melted a stick of sugarless black licorice with a slab of slate: the powerful notes of anise, eucalyptus, iodine and minerals season the intense pitch-black fruit. Wow, a slap in the face, but really impressively balanced considering its scale.