2014 Emmerich Knoll Riesling Schütt Smaragd

Emmerich Knoll

Austria / Wachau / Emmerich Knoll

Viticulturist: Knoll family
Location: Wachau/ Dürnstein
Elevation/ Altitude: 240 m
Exposition: foot of the mountain
Soil type: pure primary rock, Gneiss based
Vineyard’s style: most minerality, very focused, straight and powerful wines
Methods of training: modified Moser Training System
Density of planting: 3,500 - 4,000 per hectare / 2.40 – 2.80m row spacing
Average vine age of this vineyard: 5 to 50 years, average: 25 years
Harvesting: by hand; selective harvest; rarely green harvest
VINIFICATION
No destemming, skin contact, no carbonic maceration, pneumatic press
Yeast: cultured and natural yeast
Fermentation vessel: cask and stainless steel tank from 500 to 5,000 litres depending on batch quantity
Fermentation length & temperature: 10 - 20 days, 23 - 26 degrees
ELEVAGE/ MATURATION
Lees ageing & batonnage: 6 - 8 months, no bâtonnage
Racking: twice

February, 2016

David Schildknecht

Vinous Media

94 points

Raised almost entirely in cask, this bottling exhibits lees-induced textural refinement and buffering of its bright citrus and mint-tinged honeydew and Persian melons. Bittersweet floral perfume and cooling herbal essences waft alluringly through the entire luscious performance, beautifully complementing what is for a Smaragd remarkable lift (at a bit under 13% alcohol). A saline, toasty and iodine-tinged evocation of shrimp-shell reduction lends mouthwatering savor to a superbly sustained finish of kaleidoscopic complexity.

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About Emmerich Knoll

"This winery has produced so many cult wines over the last decades that it would not be a problem to fill an entire book with their tasting notes." So goes the Falstaff Ultimate Wine Guide's entry on Knoll, pronounced with a K. The winery uses exclusively old oak foudres and implements a winemaking philosophy that places varietal site expression at the forefront. Emmerich Knoll senior is a thoughtful, quiet man; the opposite of Emmerich junior, cosmopolitan and modern in his approach. The Knolls have holdings in all the best sites, as exemplified by their success in the now infamous UK tasting where an aged Knoll Grüner beat a field of Grand Cru white Burgundies. The unmistakable labels bearing the image of Saint Urban, the patron saint of winegrowing, are a reminder that tradition is the watchword here. But what isn’t so obvious is that Emmerich Knoll’s wines are sheer joy to drink — now or far into the future.

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