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52 { THE SOMM JOURNAL } OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2015 Domäne Wachau belongs in your wine program for several reasons. These are the some of the most versatile wines imagin- able, offering guest satisfaction on-premise as well as off-premise marketability. Built on ancient confidence backed by modern tech- nology, they over-deliver in the price-to-quality equation. Finally, the story is so compelling, the history so deep, that you cannot fail to respect the wine before you in the glass. Standing on the north bank of the River Danube, the Austrian Alps to your right and the city of Vienna to your distant left, you gaze south into the frontier border of the Roman Empire. Here traveled the Huns, or Avars, under Attila. Before these vineyard walls Turkish invaders ebbed and flowed like waves. Charlemagne pushed the Avars back into modern day Hungary and established the thirst for order and learning that forms the bedrock of Western civilization. In our own time, eighty miles to the northeast, the Iron Curtain kept generations of cousins behind armored fences and NATO bombs dropped several bridges spanning the Danube dur - ing the Bosnian war. The Wachau Valley is centerfield in the never-ending push between East and West. A river of nine nations and seven national capitols, it is the route of progress, conquest and, of course, wine. Domäne Wachau 2014 Grüner Veltliner Federspiel Terrassen Slightly muted dried fall grass yellow. Nose yields apricot pit, white peach and a subdued but tangible minerality. Very clean construction lines of specific flavors and solid, blocky acids. Clean finish of stone fruit character, classic white pepper notes and charcuterie spices including mustard seed, caraway and anise. An easy-drinking but fully pedigreed wine that shows its history and lineage. Domäne Wachau 2014 Riesling Federspiel Terrassen Brilliant straw yellow with visible gas on entry into the glass. Granite and lean stone fruits couched in a bracing structure on the nose. Juicy apricot, green apple with more river stone minerality follows in the mouth. Sub-elements of lemongrass, white rose petal and a hint of ginger. Built for spice, wood fired grills and lighter colored proteins. Bring on the Chinese five-spice, caraway and fennel. In fact, go build a sausage of veal or pork with those spices and grill over mesquite. Domäne Wachau 2010 Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Achleiten Dark, golden straw color tones, almost honeyed in appearance. Light honey-butter with orange blossom and pineapple on the nose. The mature fla - vors are fully integrated into a single line of flavor and texture. Apricot, pineapple, and mandarin orange fruit dominate the palette. Mineral tones are very subtle in the back - ground structure. Finish is all ripe apricot and round fat fruit flavors. Acids falling away mid-palette with bottle age still leave a long and flavorful finish. Beautiful unadorned by competing foods, enjoy this wine with good company and engaging conversation. Domäne Wachau 2009 Riesling Smaragd Achleiten Brilliant clarity of color with a slight touch of gas to the sight. Nose shows fundamental fruit notes and very attractive light petroleum tones. On the palate, a cor - nucopia of peach, pear, nectarine, apricot and papaya explodes in an integrated flavor profile. Bright acidity pulls the just-ripe fruits into the viscous structure that deliv - ers a mouth filling wine experience. Here complex fruits leap into an erotic joining with blended Indian curries, Thai seafood dishes and Alsatian fois gras. A wine that— in a single glass—defines Riesling as a truly noble grape. Domäne Wachau 2008 Riesling Smaragd Achleiten A rose petal and nectarine nose wafts out of a darkening straw color. On the nose light petroleum and honeydew plus secondary aromas revealing its age. The flavor attack combines a muted acid back - ground with a full basket of not-quite-ripe tropical fruits. The delicate and feminine mouth feel seems an illusion to its strength. Clean not oily finish leaves you wondering what new exotic experience lays ahead. And where did that mint finish come from? Domäne Wachau 2005 Riesling Smaragd Singerriedel This wine rejects standard dissection or description. So location- specific are the vineyard characteristics that one panelist's mentor declared, "If you can't identify Singerriedel, then hang up your tasting cup!" Mature coloring reminiscent of fall leaves greets the eye. Seductive sherry flavors of dark wood, very old leather and 100-year-old Grand Marnier surround your senses. If satisfaction has a flavor this is it. Dark ripe nectarine and mandarin orange integrate with the mature acids to form a palate of tightly woven soils, textures and flavors. You will have to try again and again to solve this puzzle. The panel of Domäne Wachau wines available from importer Vin Divino. Note: These fabulous wines are at their best served at cellar temperature of 55 degrees. PHOTO: DAN VOGEL WINE NOTES