Vinopolis in Portland, seattle is pretty thin
Not the best, just the biggest trophies.
I think there are a fair number of GG/Trocken wines that are worthy of the attention lavished on G-Max, and I own and love some Keller. CSH is more austere, and has less local competition.
As to the Austrian contenders - the top Wachau stuff can be too ripe. I tasted an FX Pichler Kellerberg tonight that was dry and so marred with botrytis that it was both very good and completely uninteresting. Give me better Kremstal/Kamptal stuff and I think the best competes.
Hirtzbergerâs Hochrain came in at something like 14,5% some years ago (canât remember the vintage off the bat) and drank not much better than, say, a poorly made Chateauneuf Blanc plus botrytis. An awful experience. That was when I decided to start weaning myself off Hirtzberger.
I used to drink and buy a lot of Wachau over the years, but now the range seems to have narrowed by natural erosion 
. I still sometimes buy the occasional Alzinger and Prager, and always all the Nikolaihof I can get.
(Niglâs killing it in the Kamptal. I think the Senftenberger Piri Riesling is totally unreal in 2013.)
Thatâs my current shortlist for Wachau as well, though I have some Rudi Pichler wines on deck.
Agree on Nigl. Gobelsburger is also making great Riesling from basic to top-of-the-line.
Yes, Rudi Pichler is very good and somehow managing to keep the wines tasting very measured and balanced despite climate change and whatever else. Gobelsburg - Moosbrugger is a genius (have you tried their roseâ, btw? Fabulous.)
Seems like we agree on everything, then . Isnât this a place where people are supposed to fight?
Love the Gobelsburg rose. Letâs fight over âfabulousâ (your phrase) vs. âamazingâ (mine).
![[wow.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/7/7d450e9830889c8943b674446a21b7254cad657e.gif "wow"){kind=small}
OK. My Gobelsburg roseâ is obviously so much fabulouser than yours.
First, both Clos St. Hune and G-Max are member of the Holy Grail of Dry Riesling including Saumagen R from Koehler-Ruprecht. As I had the luck to taste all vintages of G-Max ever produced I would say that G-Max offers the maximum on elegance&finesse&precision and drinking pleasure, in contrast Clos St. Hune which is more puristic, bone-dry and intellectual.
But let me quote my good friend Michael Quentel from Hamburg who invited me on february 2013 to a G-Max vertical 2001-2011 and he found the perfect description for G-Max on this legendary afternoon.
âViele Weine, selbst gute, lassen Dich Lärm schmecken. Aber nur die allerbesten geben Dir Stille zu kosten.Âť Ich habe an diesem Nachmittag Stille verkostet.â
âMany wines, even good ones, let you taste noisiness. But only the best ones let you taste silentness. On this afternoon I have tasted silentness.â
Save water, drink wine
Martin
P.S. I still get goosebumps thinking about the fantastic and shockingly young 2004 G-Max at this afternoon in 2013.
I never had a G-Max, and am of curious. This thread is puzzling.
At the top of the thread you get: ârich, opulent, lushâ, âboisterous, full-on special effects, late Baroque stage-setâ, âflamboyantâ. Plus the analogy with Hirtzberger Hochrain which I tasted once and found way too ripe and excessive (2009).
Martin Zwick just wrote: âmaximum on elegance & finesse and drinking pleasureâ.
To me the two sets of descriptions are contradictory.
Whoâs right?
Just goes to show - silence is definitely not a notion that I would associate with the G-Max.
Everyone
Maybe these guys had a more hot-vintage in the glass, like 2009. Of course G-Max is a yellow fruit/stone fruit-driven Riesling, but on the same time a deep&profound limestone minerality jumps out of the glass.
And let me be clear, must of the people drink G-Max too young. G-Max needs time. For example 2004 G-Max is still a baby.
Well, Martin, the wine has hardly been around long enough for anyone to taste a, say, 25-year-old bottle
(And, of course, maybe itâs just a case of different strokes.)
That´s true, Tvrtko.
BTW, here are the impressions of the G-Max-Vertical by Michael Quentel. In german!
translation of the notes by Michael Quentel.
2004 Riesling G-Max, Weingut Keller:
Wirklich groĂer Wein aus eher kĂźhlem Jahr! Glockenklare und abgrundtiefe Nase; wirkt noch unglaublich jung, kĂźhle, tabakige Kräutrigkeit, komplexes und filigranes Spiel, dabei äuĂerst präzise und nervig. Am Gaumen vibrierende Frische und Klarheit; kĂźhl, ätherisch, ein filigranes Fruchtspiel, viele Kräuter, Waldwiese, frische Ananas, Citruszesten; grandioser Säurebogen. Streng, unglaublich tiefgrĂźndig, intellektuell und diszipliniert einerseits, fili-gran, virtuos und von reiner SchĂśnheit andererseits. Fester, langer Nachhall â mit Echo. Elektrisierender Riesling! Hat noch ein langes Leben vor sich.
20/20 2014â2028
Really an outstanding wine from a cool-climate vintage. Cristal clear and deep, deep nose. Impressively young with a cool notes of tobacco and herbs. Complex sublime play and still precise and nerved.
On the palate a vibrant freshness and clarity, cool and subtle fruit play. A lot of herbs, fresh pineapple, citrus zest, breathtaking acidity arc. Focused and unbelievable deep, and also intellectual&discipline at the same time. What a beauty. Firm Riesling with a long echo. Eletrifying Riesling! Still a long life in frontâŚâŚ
20/20 2014â2028
Ach, die gute alte Tino-Seiwert-Schule der schwelgenden Verkostungsnotiz (wahrscheinlich kein Zufall, da er, wie ich sehe, uebrigens auch mit am Tisch sitzt 
).
Jokes aside, a very impressive set of notes: thanks for the link!
JA, Tino Seiwert war dabei. Tino ist ein exzellenter Verkoster und Pfundskerl.
So, when you read the notes you won´t find any descriptions of ârich, opulent, lushâ, âboisterous, full-on special effects, late Baroque stage-setâ, âflamboyantâ.
I have never had G-Max but have enjoyed many of the other Keller bottlings. There is a Keller tasting at Moore Brothers in New York this Saturday. A few years ago, Klaus Peter was there for a tasting. I found him very engaging and we had a long discussion about terroir and his wines. I do not know if he will be at Moore Brothers this weekend, but I will got just in case.
On an unrelated matter, Tvrtko reminds me of a very important American maxim - âNever play chess with a guy who has more than four consonants in his name for every vowel.â
No, but you will find quite a bit of stuff like âexotische Noten von Mangos, Kokosmilch, reifen Nektarinen, Quitten, Orangenzesten oder gelben BlĂźtenâ which other less proficient and discerning tasters like me may, of course, occasionally misread as "âboisterous, full-on special effects, late Baroque stage-setâ, âa somewhat over-the-top 17-Century Still Lifeâ, âearly Almodovar moviesâ, âperhaps I might be forgiven for actually preferring something a tiny bit less cornucopiousâ, and other variations on that theme
But, if you insist, I am happy to defer to you and readily admit that the G-Max is indeed a supremely elegant wine which transmits a sensation of silence. In fact, I will gladly admit anything, just, please, please, donât bring Simon backâŚ