Jamek

Renaissance in quality from this most venerable of Wachau estates. Remarkable array of Grand Cru sites, and superb success in the 2001 vintage. Jamek’s wines appeal to drinkers who like wine-y flavors. They are very grown-up kinds of wines, without the sparrowy quickness of reductively spritzy grape-bombs. They taste solid and durable and authoritative, and sometimes it’s hard to read them just because they aren’t sheet-metal brilliant.

•Vineyard area: 25 hectares
•Annual production: 8,300 cases
•Top sites: Achleiten, Klaus, Pichl and Freiheit
•Soil types: Gföhl gneiss, eroded primary rock gravel and loess
•Grape varieties: 50% Riesling, 30% Grüner Veltliner, 10% Weissburgunder and Chardonnay, 10% Zweigelt and Pinot Noir