Two of my highlights from the past month, both from the Wachau:
2004 Nikolaihof Grüner Veltliner Schlossberg Feinherb "Jungfernlese"
According to Terry Theise, Jungfernlese means 'virgin vintage', as this was the first wine that Nikolaihof made from this site. Not Grüner in the familiar peppery or lentil sense. Took an hour or so to fully open up, and then it shines. Honeyed, floral, earthy nose. Full, creamy, round, slightly oxidative in a good way, with good finesse and underlying acidity. Just barely off-dry, very mineral, with an earthy, minty, smoky, honeyed apple, orange, and anise flavors. Excellent.
Anyway, this is the first time that I remember seeing the word 'Feinherb' on an Austrian label. Since this isn't Trocken, they couldn't call it a Federspiel, either, which it presumably would have qualified as otherwise.
2001 Prager Weissenkirchner Steinriegel Riesling Federspiel
Oddly for a mature Riesling, this is quite spritzy at first. Nose of petrol, minerals, and yellow flowers. Medium-bodied, cool, steely, precise, elegant, and well balanced, with good underlying acidity. Bone dry, quite mineral, with lime, melon, and cucumber flavors, with some light herbal/straw/leesy notes. Finishes with a wintergreen note. Excellent; I really enjoyed this.