The 2007 Riesling Smaragd Setzberg – picked on the cusp of November – exudes fresh apple, white peach, mint, and juicy lime and ripe peach with bitter accents of zest and pit. Luscious and coolly refreshing, this finishes with a strikingly savory, invigorating, uncanny, hard-to-describe sense of minerality. It displays the remarkable transparency of fruit one would expect from a great Mosel or Nahe Riesling – and very nearly as much sheer refreshment – but with a sumptuous richness seldom possible with dry Riesling outside of the Wachau. This high point for Setzberg should be worth following from bottle for at least 6-8 years. Most of Hirtzberger’s 2007 vintage Gruner Veltliner reflect their late dates of harvest and the presence of botrytis (a certain amount of which he always welcomes) in rich, low tones.Importer: Vin Divino, Chicago, IL; tel. (773) 334-6700