Perfumed orange peel rises shyly from the glass. A yeasty hint still swings in the background, before an entire host of ripe citrus notes paints a zesty aromatic picture that draws you in by sheer force of freshness. This treads along the very cusp between tartness and ripeness and provides total thrill. The impression on the palate lasts for minutes.

The 2015 Langenlois Steinmassl 1ÖTW has a deep citrus color and opens with an impressively aromatic spicy and flinty-mineral bouquet with ripe and concentrated stone fruit aromas along with aromas of small and healthy, thick-skinned Riesling berries. Round and elegant on the palate, this full-bodied Riesling is very intense and fruity but well structured and perfectly balanced. It is pure and salty, carried to a long and tense finish by its great ripeness, concentration, vibrant acidity, fine tannins and persistent minerality. A terrific Steinmassl!

Fresh apple, honeydew and white peach are accented by piquant lemon peel, toasted hickory nut and coriander seed, with alkaline and stony notes contributing counterpoint both on the nose and on a subtly silken, expansive yet buoyant palate. A suggestion of raw scallop adds mouthwatering salinity as well as intrigue to the succulent, soothing, but also stimulating finish. (This was last tasted in June 2016 from tank, whence it was due to be bottled in late summer.)