Delicate aromas and flavors of savory herb, pear and baked apple are flanked by notes of cream, along with rich nutmeg and cardamom notes. The mineral-infused finish is pure and fresh, with plenty of powerfully ripe overtones that provide heft. Drink now through 2018. 25 cases imported.??–KM??Region: Austria / Nieder?sterreich / Wachau Select to Add

High-toned lemon oil, wood smoke, and distilled pit fruit esters emanate from the glass of Prager 2007 Riesling Smaragd Kaiserberg. This penetrates like a flying arrow, sleek and polished in texture but rather spare on the mid-palate, then leaving behind bright lime, mirabelle, blueberry, smoke, and wet stone. I cannot recall another Riesling Smaragd here this extreme, and wonder whether it will fill out with time, and how much time one might give it. This was one of our most expensive and laborious harvests ever, says Toni Bodenstein, adding that if the mere two bottlings he does of Federspiel had not this year represented a full 50% of his production, the attention and selectivity necessary for the quality of all the other wines would not have been possible. Bodenstein notes that he didn’t risk long skin contact this year, as he did not want to risk losing tartaric acidity to precipitation.Importer: Vin Divino, Chicago, IL; tel. (773) 334-6700

The 2006 Riesling Smaragd Kaiserberg offers aromas of ripe pit fruits with a faintly bitter and sizzling amalgam of citrus zest, evergreen needles, and what, for lack of any better description, one is compelled to call “minerality.” It manages to be voluminous yet sharp, obviously ripe, yet severe, almost jagged in its finishing character. A hint of heat (despite under 14% alcohol) adds a further question mark to the direction in which this wine might evolve. Drink it before it drinks you? Importer: Vin Divino, Chicago, IL; tel. (773) 334-6700