NV Schloss Gobelsburg - Tradition '10 Years' Edition 851

There is simply nothing else like this on the planet. Falstaff awarded 96 Points and Antonio Galloni of Vinous awarded 96 Points to the Edition 851, with Galloni's colleague Anne Krebiehl MW describing it as utterly unusual, complex, incisive, and long — with cream, caramel, hazelnut, yeast, and Spanish almond nougat on the nose, a palate that is smooth, nutty, and serene with a hint of resin, almost all texture, almost all smooth nougat mouthfeel — bone dry and unlike anything else in the world. Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, reviewing the sister Edition 850, awarded a staggering 98 Points, calling it a wine with no equivalent on the planet — the fruit unmistakably Austrian, charming and irresistible, yet the structure and texture building a bridge to Alsace and Burgundy.  

The Tradition wines are an ode to the winemaking style practiced at Gobelsburg in the early 19th century — specifically the baroque era between 1800 and 1850, when intense aromatisation in vinification was the standard. Grapes are pressed in a basket press, fermented without temperature control in 25-hectoliter Manhartsberg oak casks, then racked every three to four months over two full years before bottling. The Edition 851 is a blend of 85% from 2010, 10% from 2009, and 5% from vintages between 1996 and 2008 — 80% Grüner Veltliner and 20% Riesling from Schloss Gobelsburg's most prized parcels. Medium golden yellow in the glass with an impossibly complex nose of herbal spice, lime, kiwi, soft peach, floral honey, and toasted hazelnut — a wine of profound depth, silky texture, and a salty, multi-faceted finish that lingers for what seems like forever. For the collector, the adventurer, and anyone who believes that Austria is home to some of the world's greatest white wines — this is essential and irreplaceable.