Rudi Pichler Riesling Federspiel 2016

Struck flint and raw stone dominate the nose from the first sniff, this is Riesling functioning almost purely as a mineral vehicle. The feel is firm and austere, but lemon and green apple lend enough juiciness to keep things lively, and a salivating salinity drives you back to the glass. Harvested in late October and early November, foot-crushed, and given extended pre-fermentative skin contact, this wine was rejected twice by quality panels, flagged simultaneously for being varietally atypical and for supposed flaws. That judgment says more about the panels than the wine. Worth noting: Austrian growers can submit to the regional station of their choice, and several Lower Austrian producers have started routing their wines through Burgenland, where tasters are unlikely to question the typicity of a grape they don't even grow.