2022 Brundlmayer, Willi - Riesling Zobinger Heiligenstein

One of the greatest dry Rieslings on the planet — and one of the most criminally underpriced wines in the shop. The Heiligenstein is Austria's most storied and geologically extraordinary vineyard, and Bründlmayer, with 12 hectares at its very heart, is its most celebrated custodian. Anne Krebiehl MW of Vinous awarded a stunning 96 Points, calling it beautiful, taut, long and serene — from core parcels where cool Waldviertel air meets warm Pannonian influence, with a subtle note of cypress, smokiness, and green citrus peel on the nose, the palate adding juicy white peach framed with tingling citrus, resulting in immense juiciness and svelte exuberance — bone dry. Wine Advocate awarded 94 Points, praising its dense, delicately creamy, remarkably complex and stony bouquet with notes of ripe Riesling seeds and mocha, green but juicy on the palate, uniquely purist in style, pleasantly firm and intensely saline — very promising. 

The Heiligenstein's soils are among the most extraordinary in the wine world — approximately 270 million year old Permian desert sandstone containing volcanic inclusions and carbonized remains of primeval vegetation, yielding a mineral signature found nowhere else on earth. Fermented in stainless steel then racked into large old oak, left in contact with fine lees for several months — certified organic, handled with absolute minimal intervention. As one critic memorably put it, if these wines came from France they would be three times the price — the best value high-end whites in the world. Cellar generously and drink reverently.