Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Ried Loibenberg trocken 2016

Lobenberg: Blumiges, konzentriertes Bouquet nach weißen und etwas nach roten Früchten. Mittlerer Körper, extrem würzig im Mund, Äpfel, Birne, Pfirsich, Aprikosen und Mineralien. 95-96/100

-- Parker: The 2016 Ried Loibenberg Grüner Veltliner Smaragd is from the warmest vineyard of the family. Coming from a steep, terraced, very skeletal cru with iron-rich gneiss soils, the 2016 opens with a super clear, cool, fresh and well-defined nose that comes along with herbal and flinty notes but still indicates ripe and concentrated fruit from a warm vineyard. Full-bodied, round and intense, with perfectly ripe and warm fruit, this is a pure, piquant and crisp Grüner Veltliner with very good grip and mineral freshness. The finish is quite lush, the mineral structure, salinity and freshness stimulating. Lucas Pichler says that, in warmer vintages, he picks the vineyard ten days earlier than his father did and without botrytis to keep the freshness and elegance. His 2016 is great proof of that, although it was not a warm vintage. Tasted as a sample in early July, three weeks before the bottling. 93-94/100

-- Suckling: --Suckling: Still a little closed, but there's great yellow fruit aromas, a hint of floral honey and plenty of depth. Almost opulent, but with great freshness at the finish. Better from 2018 and will still impress in a couple of decades and probably beyond, too. 95/100