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95 pts Vinous
The 2023 Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Kollmütz comes from vines between 50 and 80 years old, rooting in soft, penetrable weathered gneiss. The most gentle reduction gives a flinty spin to the fine, fresh yeast on the nose. Stony restraint on the palate gains creaminess from the yeasty mid-palate, which has a deep sense of salt, lemon pith and even a touch of soy and sage. There is a lovely contrast between stone and savoriness on a streamlined palate. (Bone-dry) - By Anne Krebiehl MW on May 2024

The Vineyard: The soils of Ried Kollmütz developed out of the Wösendorf Slide Mass, from severely weathered crystalline rock called paragneiss. Paragneiss was formed from metamorphosed sediments, created under extreme conditions of increased pressure and heat during the Variscan orogeny, becoming exposed once more after extensive erosion of the erstwhile mountain range. The paragneisses of the Wachau are several hundred million years old and are distinguished by their multifacetted mineral constituents. The slumping process of the slide mass itself is dated by geologists to the Egerian Period (ca. 20–25 million years ago). The sandy and calcareous soils of the Kollmütz are particularly rich in iron, manganese and magnesium.

Anne Krebiehl MW (Vinous) on May 2024:
“Exciting” is how Rudi Pichler described 2023. The estate sustained some hail damage in late August in the lowest-lying and highest Riesling parcels; hence, there is no Riesling Federspiel this year. Pichler quickly adds that those further east, in Kamptal, were hit much worse. He said that several theories did the rounds regarding hail-damaged bunches: some insisted that since affected grapes had dried out, they would not make a difference during skin contact, “but we decided to sort them all out completely and painstakingly.” This was only possible by recruiting many more pickers from friends and family and then dealing with all the extra admin this entails in Austria. “We managed it all, and that was a feat,” Pichler says. “It was the right decision.” Harvest started on 3 October and was done by mid-November – and the wines are as linear and taut as ever, even if the fruit flavors are in a riper spectrum.