2020 Rudi Pichler Riesling Federspiel, Wachau

For the medium-bodied Federspiel category, this has so much structure and minerality that it barely still fits within that framework. Yes, there are some fine stone-fruit aromas, but the dominant impression is of intense wild herbs and wet-stone minerality. Drink or hold.

94 points jamessuckling.com

The 2020 Riesling Federspiel is beautifully clear and precise on the well-concentrated nose that reveals a classic, coolish white peach aroma intertwined with spicy-stony notes. Fresh and elegant on the palate, this is a really light but crunchy and phenolic dry Riesling in a very straight and bone dry style. Still young but made for thirsty throats. 12% alcohol. Tasted in June 2021.

"2020 was finally a normal, classic vintage again," says Rudi Pichler. "It wasn't too warm, and we were not that early with the harvest." The hailstorm in later August had an impact only on the Federspiel vineyards of Wösendorf, which lost 65% of the normal crop. Intuitively, Pichler, who has been assisted by his son Rudi Junior and his daughter Theresa for a couple of years, reduced potential yields already with the winter pruning that, in the end, brought fully ripe and intense grapes, also in terms of acidity. Extract levels were pretty high for both Smaragd and Federspiel qualities. As always, Rudi applies a long maceration for all of his wines, which is between three and 12 hours for Federspiel, six to 16 hours for Smaragd and 12 to 24 hours for the top Smaragds from the single-vineyard sites. The Achleithen is even allowed to macerate for 36 hours. The fermentation starts spontaneously, but the aging on the lees is rather short and the bottling early. This gives the wines a pretty challenging character when young, but they usually reward our patience, even if that's hard to imagine with the 2020s. Rudi is also happy with his 2019s, which are similar to the 2017s and 2013s—two other warm vintages with good acidity structures. I tasted predominantly the 2019s in summer when the 2020 top wines were not yet ready to taste.