VieVinum has two aces up its sleeve: one, Vienna is a lovely city, or shall I say a large cultural village, and two, the Imperial Palace is a stunning stetting. This afternoon, in the Masquerade Hall that was built by Joseph, the 1st, as an opera house in 1705, Beethoven's 8th symphony premiered here, Vinea Wachau celebrated its 25th anniversary with a tutored tasting. The producers were not in costume, but showed 25 Smaragd, their icon wine, one from each year since it inception. Although it was difficult to move from Grüner Veltliner to Riesling and then back again, the character of each vintage was very clearly delineated. The star? My vote went to Prager's 1997 Riesling Smaragd from his Steinriegel vineyard, but a number of others highlighted the unique position of the steep vineyards that rise like stone giants above the Danube: the 2005 Riesling Smaragd Bruck from Högl, the 1999 Grüner Veltliner Kollmitz from Franz Pichler, the 1995 Riesling Kirchweg from Rudi Pichler, the 1987 Grüner Veltliner Loibenberg from Emmerich Knoll and the 1986 Riesling Hochrain from Franz Hirtzberger. Comments