91 Peter Moser - International Wine Cellar

"Aromas of vineyard peach, lemon thyme, acacia blossom and flint. Juicy and complex, this riesling is both rich and austere, with brilliant acidity lending structure and pedigree. Although bone-dry, the intense ripe mango flavor and high extract impart a slightly sweet impression on the finish."

90 David Schildknecht - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

"Due to pervasive shriveling thanks to a late-August heat spike, Veyder-Malberg's 2012 Riesling Bruck effectively reflects an extreme selection involving separation of still-juicy portions of clusters from the rest. Fresh lime and apricot garlanded with lily-of-the-valley, coriander and mint in the nose migrate to an infectiously, tartly juicy palate (no desiccation here!) whose vivacity is enhanced by retained CO2. A tight, tart, tingling back-end doesn't yet perpetuate the complexity that preceded it on the nose and mid-palate, but it does harbor welcome, salivary gland-stimulating salinity and impressive sheer persistence. I'd want to revisit this in a year or two, but I suspect it may well prove worth following through 2020."

"Peter Veyder-Malberg - for much more about whom and about whose vineyard sites, consult my coverage in issue 197 - recently moved into a cellar of his own devising in a stunning and relatively remote vineyard location high above the Spitzer Bach. Its rustic exterior belies the forethought and care - typical in every respect of this vintner - that have gone into designing and outfitting it, and will among other things, thanks to relatively constant cold temperatures, permit Malberg to keep his Weitenberg and Buschenberg in cask over the summer. For this reason among others, look-out in the near future for even more striking and outstanding wines from this iconoclastic grower. Speaking of which, the first - 2013 crop - from the Brandstatt terraces that he painstakingly and back-breakingly rebuilt and replanted will be unveiled later this year. (It fermented on its skins and will stay in cask for a year - "part of my search for Wachau tradition," remarks the author.) Veyder-Malberg always crops short and harvests very early by prevailing Wachau standards, but in 2012 his crop was especially small and picking especially early, beginning already on September 11. "I was finished with the Gruner Veltliner before October 1 and with Riesling October 30. Why?" he asks before answering his own question. "Because I'm concerned about acidity and crunch, and want to keep that lovely freshness. On the whole, flowering was not too bad" across his geographically disparate range of sites, "but in the end there still just wasn't much hanging on the vines." What's more, half of his Riesling in Bruck puckered or shriveled-up in a late August heat spike, including - as photographs testify - virtually all of that up against the walls of his terraces (many of which are only three or four rows deep). "The 2012s look similar to those of 2011 when you read the analytical data," Veyder-Malberg observes, "but in the glass they have more grip." Asked about the significance of temperature at harvest - almost inevitably higher with such early picking dates - Malberg opines that "pressing goes much easier and can be gentler, while positive enzymatic activity and active spontaneous fermentation are encouraged if the grapes are a bit warm. I'm not concerned, because the fruit I harvest is totally clean and healthy, so nothing (bad) is going to happen.""