Bitter elements of fruit pit are nicely folded into a subtly creamy and leesy yet – as befits this grape’s delightful proclivities – a persistently juicy matrix of melon, lime, and sweet corn in Hiedler’s 2010 Pinot Blanc Spiegel. Suggestions of iodine and crushed stone add interest on a long, luscious, yet invigorating finish. This will prove terrifically versatile at table over at least the next 6-8 years, and probably considerably longer. (I was stunned by an almost electrically-charged, ultra-mineral, Riesling-like 1991 Schenkenbichl Pinot Blanc from Hiedler tasted blind alongside.) Ludwig Hiedler – whose overall account of vintage 2010 can be found leading-off my introduction to this report – notes that “given such a small crop, ripeness wasn’t that bad once you got into October; and we started picking relatively early so as not to risk further crop loss and so as to avoid botrytis. All that was left to pick in November was the Heiligenstein and Maximum Riesling; Weissburgunder and Chardonnay; and the Kittmannsberg (Gruner Veltliner),” that last a good thing, since Hiedler has for years bottled its fruits under the name “November Harvest” (recently shortened to “November”)! Hiedler has taken an increasingly passive and leisurely approach to fermentation and elevage – as described in my introductions to his 2005 and 2006 collections in issues 160 and 177, where further details on the sites he farms will also be found. His wines tend to undergo malo-lactic transformation as a matter of course, not to mention enjoy long lees contact, and thus his approach to ameliorating 2010’s high acidity was already a foregone conclusion.Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300