Stunning, glorious Rieslings

"ANYTHING But Chardonnay!" This battle cry came back to mind when I met Stuart Pigott, wine critic and writer, famous for his depth of knowledge of Riesling, at lunch a few days ago. For lunch, he produced an Austrian Riesling from Weingut Prager in the Wachau, Austria's most prestigious wine region. It was stunning. Although knowing Prager quite well, having visited the estate several times, and long been an admirer of its wines, even then I was hugely surprised. This Riesling was characteristic of Prager's style - or rather the style of the son-in-law Toni Bodenstein who runs the estate, and it was amazing.

Wachstum Bodenstein Riesling

Smaragd Trocken 2009,

Weingut Prager

Tony Bodenstein's experimental project is now producing Prager's finest wine, from the famous Wachtum Bodenstein vineyard, elevation 1,380-1,520 feet, usually considered too high for wine growing. Total production is around 3,000 bottles, with an alcohol cont…