2018 Alzinger Gruner Veltliner Federspiel Muhlpoint Wachau Austria 750 ml

In the pantheon of Wachau's most hallowed producers, Alzinger stands as the great god of precision. Since 1983, the family has been bottling perfectly chiseled Grüner Veltliners from some of the most coveted slopes in all of Europe. Because they're a much-lauded favorite of sommeliers around the globe, celebrated at home and abroad for their meticulous farming and winemaking practices, restaurant demand usually gobbles up all availability. That's why we're so excited today to offer this incredibly rare wine, and to bring it to our members at the best price in the nation. 

The 2018 Mühlpoint Federspiel is a powerfully persuasive wine with a rich fruit profile on a finely carved mineral frame. At under $30, you cannot find another wine so thoroughly subtle and full of finesse. It’s one of the reasons Eric Asimov called Austrian wines “the wine world’s best-kept secret.” 

This is a wine that comes from the lower aspects of the renowned Steinertal slope, where vertiginous stone terraces give way to a silty northern bank of the Danube. Because Steinertal is slightly hidden, tucked into the eastern fold of Unterloiten, it falls into shade earlier in the day and stays cooler than its neighboring sites, giving the wine its famously cutting edge. 

If the Wachau is the world's holy land for palate-popping, age-worthy Grüner Veltliner, then the stony slopes at Unterloiten constitute this grape's inner sanctum. The site is perched on a deep bend between an arctic-influenced forest climate over the ridge to the north and a sun-drenched plains climate to the south and east. The tension, the pulse of these systems, creates dazzling little microclimates that are naturally suited to explicate the variety's most otherworldly qualities.

Leo Alzinger, Jr. takes the raw material to celestial heights, underscoring the physicality of the grapes through whole cluster fermentation and lees aging. While muscular, the 2018 Mühlpoint is always lean, never bulky, and terrifically concentrated. But since the Alzingers only hold a part of this five-hectare slope, only a small portion of which goes into this bottling, there just isn't a lot to go around.

Remarkably, at $29, this is a wine that will transport you from the very first pour. Its complex nose of lime peel and white peach mingle among earthier tones of fennel bulb, fresh ginger, and radish. The classic white pepper flavor asserts itself gracefully, bridging the nose and the palate through a crescendo of spice. 

Federspiel is a medium ripeness level, giving the wine a bit of heft, but again that weight is defined by vivid lines and angles. The firm backbone of acidity and a clean salinity wash through the palate and elevate the fruit-and-earth aromatics. A white floral touch softens the day-long finish, leading us to relish one of the finest experiences we’ve had of a wine in perfect balance.