Whiffs of juniper, green apple, and tart black fruits emanate from Neumayer’s 2007 Gruner Veltliner Engelberg, which thanks to ripe acidity and a mere 11.8% alcohol offers a refreshing, bracing mouthful of fresh fruit tinged with salt and crushed stone. For all of its virtues, though, this wine may seem a bit green and brisk depending on the context in which it is consumed, and I would favor drinking it by the middle of next year. On account of the hot, dry July, Neumayer says he only did one spraying against mildew and almost no manicuring of the foliage. He picked well into October, since he did not find he was risking such high potential alcohol as his 2006s had reached already in the early days of that month. These wines have what he calls the “cracking” of acidity that invigorates and refreshes. (Note that because of a change in importers at the beginning of this year, prices on these wines were not yet available to me, and the wines themselves will only begin arriving later in the year. Readers should consult my reviews of the 2006s in issue 177 for a ballpark idea of eventual retail prices.) The wines of this years’ Riesling collection chez Neumayer were all very slow to ferment and ended up completely dry at the upper twelve’s in alcohol.Importer: Winemonger, Los Angeles, CA; www.winemonger.com