This past weekend I went to a large sale at the Sam's Wine Warehouse in
Chicago. One of the wines that was on sale I picked up was the:
1997 Josef Jamek Reid Schreiberberg Smaragd Gruner Veltliner Wauchau

The wine was reduced from about $29 to $21. After all the talk in here
over the last few months, I had to pick up a couple of GVs to try. This
is the only one I haven't been able to find any info about on the Parker
or Spectator sites.

Any info would appreciated, like is this old for a GV or is this going
to be dry.

Thanks in advance.

By the way the sale at Sam's was great. I think they have 5000 wines on
sale through the end of the month. I was able to really stock up on a
few Bordeaux and several Rhone wines. Well worth the drive for anyone
within a hundred miles.

Cliff

Cliff Brown wrote:

1997 Josef Jamek Reid Schreiberberg Smaragd Gruner Veltliner
Wauchau
^
Wachau

The wine was reduced from about $29 to $21. After all the talk
in here over the last few months, I had to pick up a couple of
GVs to try. This is the only one I haven't been able to find
any info about on the Parker or Spectator sites.

Schreiberberg is not one of Jamek's classic bottlings, his
flagships being Achleiten (for Veltliner) and Klaus (for
Riesling). But being a smaragd I would really be confident.

Any info would appreciated, like is this old for a GV or is this
going to be dry.

Superb vintage, definitely not old (if stored cool, of course).
Smaragds have to be dry, btw. "Dry" in the EU sense, which means a
maximum of 9 g/l (0.9 percent) of residual sugar.

M.

Michael Pronay wrote:

Cliff Brown wrote:

1997 Josef Jamek Reid Schreiberberg Smaragd Gruner Veltliner
Wauchau
^
Wachau

The wine was reduced from about $29 to $21. After all the talk
in here over the last few months, I had to pick up a couple of
GVs to try. This is the only one I haven't been able to find
any info about on the Parker or Spectator sites.

Schreiberberg is not one of Jamek's classic bottlings, his
flagships being Achleiten (for Veltliner) and Klaus (for
Riesling). But being a smaragd I would really be confident.

Any info would appreciated, like is this old for a GV or is this
going to be dry.

Superb vintage, definitely not old (if stored cool, of course).
Smaragds have to be dry, btw. "Dry" in the EU sense, which means a
maximum of 9 g/l (0.9 percent) of residual sugar.


Thanks for the info. I plan on letting it sit for a month and then
giving it a try.

--

Cliff

I was looking at another one - Grüner Veltliner 'Smaragd' 2001 Wachau, Freie
Weingartener Wachau.

Does anyone have any info on this one? Michael?

Bill Spohn wrote:
I was looking at another one - Grüner Veltliner 'Smaragd' 2001
Wachau, Freie Weingartener Wachau.

Does anyone have any info on this one? Michael?


Hi Bill,

I'm definitely no Michael, but I've had good experience with Freie
Weingärtner Wachau's 2001 Riesling Smaragd. I'd suppose the Grüner
Veltliner will be good as well.

FWIW, the Freie Weingärtner Wachau are a co-op in the Wachau area. I'd
also expect some kind of identification of the origin of the grapes on
the label, i.e. "Terrassen Thal Wachau" (or something like that) for a
generic Wachau wine or the name of the vineyard for a single vineyard
wine. Or maybe the Wachau on the label denotes the generic Wachau area,
then.

Cheers,

-Topi Kuusinen, Finland

Topi Kuusinen wrote:

I was looking at another one - Grüner Veltliner 'Smaragd' 2001
Wachau, Freie Weingartener Wachau.

FWIW, the Freie Weingärtner Wachau are a co-op in the Wachau
area. I'd also expect some kind of identification of the origin
of the grapes on the label, i.e. "Terrassen Thal Wachau" (or
something like that) for a generic Wachau wine or the name of
the vineyard for a single vineyard wine. Or maybe the Wachau on
the label denotes the generic Wachau area, then.

I am not aware of FWW Smaragd bottlings without any further
mention, and I guess this is "Terrassen Thal Wachau". Which, as
you rightly point out, is really no more than generic Wachau
(except that it says that it has been harvested from terraces).

M.

I am not aware of FWW Smaragd bottlings without any further
mention, and I guess this is "Terrassen Thal Wachau".

Sorry, it appears to be: Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Trocken Wachau Achleiten
Domäne Wachau 2001

Is that better? Our Canadian liquor boards seem to have trouble getting all of
the description into a catalogue!

(Bill Spohn) wrote:

I am not aware of FWW Smaragd bottlings without any further
mention, and I guess this is "Terrassen Thal Wachau".

Sorry, it appears to be: Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Trocken Wachau
Achleiten Domäne Wachau 2001

Is that better?

Of course it is! "Achleiten" is one of the best vineyard sites in
the Wachau, situated in Weißenkirchen, givin rieslings of
exceptional depth *and* finesse, while the grüners quite often can
show a hint of "sauvage". For me, "Achleiten" probably is *the*
quintessential vineyard site of the region.

Our Canadian liquor boards seem to have trouble getting all of
the description into a catalogue!

Always the same around the world with anything except top
Bordeaux, Super-Tuscans, and Grange.

M.