Rock Dog:
Riesling Holy Ground Magnum Edition
2010 Nikolaihof Riesling Steiner Hund Magnums
In short, Steiner Hund is Holy Ground for Riesling.
A couple weeks ago, we sent out an offering on 750s of 2010 Steiner Hund. Today, we turn to magnums.
Steiner Hund is one of our favorite wines in all of Austria. It may very well be the most mysterious (and compelling) dry Riesling around.
The 2010 Steiner Hund is one of the most brilliant examples of the vintage in Austria. 2010 was a cool vintage. The Steiner Hund has an amazingly clear and tension-filled mineral spine. We expect the 2010 to age absolutely beautifully.
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With all of this in mind, we didn't give buying mags a second thought. This kind of aging potential cries out for buying magnums.
When you talk to Austrian fanatics about the best vineyards, you hear the same thing: Kellerberg, Singerriedel, Steinertal and Steiner Hund. The Steiner Hund site is a small piece of land that's holy ground for Riesling. The "catch," however, is that this plot of land lies just outside the official boundaries of the Wachau, and as such it cannot have a "Smaragd" designation - so it goes under the cover of "Reserve," meaning simply that it is a wine harvested later and, in this specific case, aged for an extended period of time in older, neutral barrels.
Getting your finger on the pulse of Nikolaihof's Steiner Hund is no easy task. There's always a dimension of complexity, of haunting, mysterious minerality that's impossible to firmly grasp. If the wine has a clear signature, it's a rich and often creamy texture with notes that suggest minerals, flowers and earth simultaneously. The 2010 shows the sterner side of the wine in a very welcome sort of way.
This is one of Austria's most soulful bottles that only gains in fascination and outright complexity with time in the cellar. Magnums are the ideal format for the wine to undergo this transformation.
To order, reply to offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463.
Joe Salamone
Wine Buyer
Crush Wine & Spirits