Dense, Structured, Pristine -- Prager 2015

There are many superlatives being used to describe the 2015 vintage in many parts of Europe, but perhaps the two places where it's generating the most excitement are Germany and (in today's case) Austria.

If you're already a fan of these wines, you can now skip right to the goods at the bottom.

If you're not, you can continue reading the sales pitch.

I'll say it this way -- as a wine merchant, selling white wines from Germany, Alsace and Austria is one of the most difficult things you can try to do, especially at the collector level.

People see the tall, skinny bottles and the 'SWEET!' alarm goes off in their head and they won't hear any more about them. Or, if they're someone who enjoys the wines, but only casually, they have a hard time justifying the purchase of higher-end bottles for the purposes of laying them down.

Both of these scenarios are totally understandable, but if you want to learn about why people do cartwheels for these wines, the release of these 2015s is a pretty good time to start.

Prager is one of the legendary producers in the Wachau whose Rieslings and Gruners are among the most prized cellar-items from Austria. The style is definitely on the richer and more polished side of the spectrum, but not at the expense of balance and (most importantly when it comes to these wines) tension and structure.

Prager's 2015s are truly something special and are generating lots of buzz. So much so that I had to fight tooth and nail for this small allocation and, despite repeated requests with the estate, have been assured that there's no more to be had.

These are three of Prager's best in the vintage and I can't stress enough how much I recommend them.

Pre-Arrival, October ETA