Bernhard Ott Grüner Veltliner Rosenberg Qvevre 2013

Heady and unusual from the first sniff, chartreuse herbs, peony, musky rose and something almost medicinal in its intensity. In the mouth, caramelized root vegetables (parsnip, beet, turnip) weave through ripe pear and a faint strawberry sweetness, all of it wrapped in a liqueur-like richness that could easily tip over into excess. It doesn't, thanks to a nutty, almond-skin bitterness, firm phenolics and a peppery white-pepper bite that keep the whole thing honest and alive. The finish is where this wine truly earns its place: long, umami-laden, sweet and saline at once, the kind that has you reaching for another sip before you've finished thinking about the last one. This is the finest Rosenberg Qvevre since the inaugural 2009, whole-berry fermentation in buried clay pots, sealed away for over a year, and yet the Wagram site comes through with its character fully intact, if fascinatingly altered. With 3,300 liters produced in 2013, it's no longer an obscure experiment, and how these bottles will develop over the long term remains an open and genuinely exciting question.