Grüner veltliner is Austria's own grape, and the Wachau — a gorge where the Danube cuts through primary rock between Melk and Krems — is its stage: dry-stone terraces stacked above the river, worked by hand. In 1983 the growers' association Vinea Wachau classified the wines by natural ripeness into Steinfeder, Federspiel and Smaragd, the last named for the emerald lizard that suns itself on the terrace walls.
After the 1985 scandal collapsed Austrian wine exports, the country rebuilt its name on quality, and the rebuilding started here. White pepper, lentil and stone fruit; the great Smaragd bottlings have humbled white Burgundy in blind tastings, and age with the same patience.