Pichler’s 2005 Gruner Veltliner Smaragd Hochrain raises the stakes considerably in the game with ripeness and alcohol (at 13.9%) and cleans house. Intense, ester-rich, sweet peach, pea, yellow plum and honey aromas soar from the glass. In the mouth, this is full and faintly oily, powerful, yet elegant in its brightness and clarity of fruit, mineral, and herb. It finishes intensely of pit fruits, coffee, spinach, nutmeg, and licorice, without being at all strident or warm. Pichler compares this to the 1993, which was holding up well on this occasion even though he insists that his having since given up the practice of battonage will render his wines of today in general longer-lived.Also recommended: 2005 Gruner Veltliner Federspiel ($23.00; 85)Importer: Vin Divino, Chicago, IL; tel. (773) 334-6700