Rudi Pichler

Rudi Pichler assumed control of his family’s winery in 1997, and in 2004 moved to impressively designed new facilities nearby. A man of intense determination, methodical craftsmanship, and strong though well-tempered opinions, Pichler endorses harvesting late enough to, as he believes, capture the most complete possible set of flavors, and his wines typically ferment to nearly absolute dryness. If that combination makes for elevated alcohol levels, not only does he take this in stride but his wines seem uncannily able to do so as well, no doubt in part due to the buffering influences of lees exposure and sheer extract. Pre-fermentation skin contact is de rigueur and is often measured in days rather than hours, which is conducive to producing wines of tactile grip.

Pichler’s southwest-exposed corner in Achleiten, the source of his most striking wines, is microclimatically and in its utter absence of active lime quite distinct from those that inform other well-known bottlings from this great site. And it will soon, following Pichler’s purchase “as a 50th-birthday present to myself,” be extended into a remarkably rocky and largely long-ago-abandoned sector whose potential quality Pichler’s grandfather had already pointed out to him.

Vintage 2016 certainly played into Rudi Pichler’s proclivity for late harvest, though even he admits that “while the weather would have permitted us to extend picking into December, there was no point” given fruit that he already thinks reflects “one of the finest Wachau vintages of recent years.” It’s certainly among the finest-ever at his address. The vintage also suits Pichler in that despite late harvest, alcohol levels are moderate, something one can’t say about every Rudi Pichler collection. In terms of vinous personality, Pichler thinks of 2016 as combining the richness of 2015 “with the elegance of 2014 at its best.” As to his penchant for treating his musts to significant pre-fermentative skin contact, 2016 was no exception in that regard – though just how much as usual varies considerably by wine – and once again, many of his grapes were foot-trodden. As my notes suggest, a striking feature of Pichler’s 2016 collection is the pronounced difference in personality from one bottling – i.e., terroir – to another. DAVID SCHILDKNECHT