此次品嘗的 Moosbrugger 2010 年份 Riesling Beerenauslese 來自木桶（所用釀酒葡萄與用來釀制同類的 Auslese 的葡萄采摘時間相同），酒中的酸比 Auslese 的更加尖刺，結(jié)晶度更高。帶有橙子、紅橙皮、檸檬和蜂蜜的味道，形成了極具活力的口感，余味中更升華了這些風(fēng)味。較高的酸度到最后使口腔感到干澀灼熱，強(qiáng)勁濃烈、又苦又甜的味道仍十分持久。純凈的萃取物和酒中蜂蜜的味道緩和了這種尖刺的感覺。酒的品質(zhì)在8 至 10 年內(nèi)達(dá)到頂峰。

Rendered from both Gaisberg and Heiligenstein, Moosbrugger’s 2009 Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese represents his only nobly sweet wine of that vintage, as there was too little botrytized Gruner Veltliner to justify enshrining. Candied orange rind, fish oil, and a hair-raising prickle of noble rot rise from the glass, then segue into a dense, almost severely-concentrated palate for a tenaciously persistent impression of orange marmalade, black tea, and crushed stone. This is not that unlike its nobly sweet 2010 counterparts in personality, demonstrating the extent to which botrytis selections often exhibit personalities that do not reflect the typical character of their vintage as a whole. Michael Moosbrugger pointed out to me this June that those who wait until the second half of November to harvest – by which time he tries always to have finished most of his picking – nearly always incur additional concentration of acidity through frost, which then requires compensatory additional hang time to soften. And 2010 flirted with frost already in October, although luckily the weather cooperated through most of November. High acids were dealt with in the estate wines – where deemed necessary – by permitting some lots to undergo malo-lactic transformation. It’s hard to believe in retrospect how rapidly after taking over Schloss Gobelsburg in 1996, Moosbrugger – with several initial years of collaboration by Willi Brundlmayer – brought this ancient monastic estate to the forefront of Austrian viticulture. But some of the things he claims to have only properly appreciated in very recent years and says will have a profound influence on future wines sound deceptively simple. In the matter of yields, for example, Moosbrugger opines that it took a while to acquire and genuinely appreciate the insight “not to have too many bunches of grapes, but also not too few. In 2006, for instance, we probably had too few. With a few more clusters per vine, the wines are intensive enough, and the alcohol isn’t too elevated.” It’s hard to argue in the face of the balance and expressiveness Moosbrugger has achieved in such dramatically different and distinctively difficult vintages as 2009 and 2010. He is, incidentally, no partisan of entirely organic viticulture, believing in particular that for combating peronospora (downy mildew) certain synthetic systemic and topical treatments are both more effective and environmentally superior to a default use of copper sulfate.Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300

The Gobelsburg 2007 Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese – like its Gruner Veltliner counterpart, tasted from acacia cask and slated for September, 2009 bottling – displays similar sweaty, salty notes in the nose. So embryonic and implosively concentrated it is tough to access, this Riesling’s Scheurebe-like sage, candied grapefruit zest, and black currant reminded me of the characteristics of certain healthy dry wines of the vintage. Thick and very sweet, yet at the same time penetrating, brightly citric, and saline in finish, it will certainly be at least a ten year keeper, but I do not pretend to have a clear idea of just what it will become.Michael Moosbrugger did not begin his main white wine harvest – even for lighter-weight Gruner Veltliner – until mid-October. Unlike most Krems area growers he also picked nobly sweet wine, based on a late bloom of botrytis. Moosbrugger seems to have achieved some (considering the weather) surprisingly successful reds in 2007, having painstakingly cut off half of each cluster to inhibit the development of rot, then harvested prior to any of his whites. (I’ll report on those reds after I have re-tasted them from bottle. For notes on two outstanding 2006 vintage reds which have since lived up to their promise in bottle, consult my report in issue 177.)Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300

Stringent selection and a relatively early (late October, early November) harvest of Riesling left as an amazing byproduct a 2005 Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese from Gaisberg and Heiligenstein. Lemon candy, brown sugar, and peach jam aromas set the stage for a concentrated palate presence of pure lemon meringue and a penetrating, pure, lemon, peach, and honey finish. Time may lend this some further complexity but its sheer purity and intensity are already quite compelling. Also recommended: 2005 Riesling Urgestein ($23.00; 86), 2004 Riesling Tradition ($41.00; 86+?), 2004 St. Laurent Klassik (not available; 86+?).Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300