Surprisingly similar (though who would dare complain?) to this year’s corresponding Hohereck, Alzingers’ 2010 Riesling Smaragd Loibenberg – due to have been bottled in July – features white peach, apple, and lime suffused with bittersweet herbal and floral essences and engaged in an invigoratingly dynamic, mouthwateringly persistent exchange with stony, crystalline, and saline mineral matter. Firmer and marginally less winsome than the Hohereck but coursing with vinous electricity, this should be worth following for a decade. The Alzingers didn’t begin harvesting until the third week of October in 2010 and continued until November 18. Riesling Federspiel alone was de-acidified (as must). Leo Alzinger senior confirmed the judgment of other Wachau veterans that there was no known precedent for the combination of high acidity; sugar; and extract with genuine phenolic ripeness and next to no botrytis. (Somehow I missed out, incidentally, on tasting this year’s Liebenberg Riesling Smaragd.)Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300