Maria Hick, Grüner Veltliner Federspiel, “Ried Stiegelstal”

Not everyone has the stamina, or the inclination, to sift through the word salad of the typical Austrian or German wine label. But it is worth it, believe me. There’s a lot to be learned about today’s wine from its label—the big takeaway being the extraordinary ‘specialness’ it conveys for just $25. Austria’s spectacular Wachau region, a verdant stretch of the Danube given UNESCO World Heritage status, is thick with families whose winemaking roots (and family properties) go back many centuries. The profundity of that history and the intricacies of the local terroir are reflected in the region’s inimitable wines, which carry not just village and vineyard names but their own Wachau-specific ripeness designations (Steinfeder; Federspiel; Smaragd). Today’s wine carries yet another Wachau-only trademark: Rupertiwein, the imprimatur of a small group of producers clustered in a section of western Wachau known as the Arnsdorf. They want you to know that this Grüner Veltliner is not just from t