2007 Emmerich Knoll Riesling Vinothekfüllung Smaragd

Emmerich Knoll

Austria / Wachau / Emmerich Knoll

Wine name/ Variety: Riesling Vinothekfüllung
Viticulturist: Knoll family
Location: Wachau/ Unter-Loiben
Elevation/ Altitude: 260 – 350 m
Exposition: Different terraced vineyards with southern exposure
Soil type: Gneiss-based primary rock with Löss components
Methods of training: modified Moser Training System
Density of planting: 5,000 – 6,500 per hectare / 1.40 – 1.80m row spacing
Harvesting: by hand; selective harvest; rarely green harvest
VINIFICATION
No destemming, skin contact, no carbonic maceration, pneumatic press. Vinified with cultured and natural yeast
Fermentation vessel: cask and stainless steel tank from 500 to 5,000 litres depending on batch quantity
Fermentation length & temperature: 5- 15 days, 23 - 26 degrees

Peter Moser

Vinous Media

94 points

Medium green-yellow. Delicate blossom honey and inviting apricot jam comprise a youthfully coy nose. Juicy and elegant on the palate, with spicy botrytized notes of honey and pumpernickel. Quite creamy in texture, with the wine's luscious residual sweetness nicely leavened by vibrant acidity and abundant minerality. Salty minerals and spicy fruit linger long on the finish. Although this wine is much more approachable than the Schutt today, it is no less capable of aging. Drink now to 2022.

David Schildknecht

Wine Advocate

91-92 points

Featuring fruit from the Loibenberg, with small contributions from Schutt and Kellerberg, the Knolls’ 2007 Riesling Smaragd Vinothekfullung is dominated by ripe peach with pungent brown spices and white pepper. A rich, savory mineral and meat note wells up, a bit Chablis-like, amid its glossy and opulent palate display, and it finishes with considerable force, if also a touch of heat from its roughly 14% alcohol. I simply have not yet been convinced (but much more tasting is necessary, as my experience is largely with mature Loibenberg and Schutt bottlings) that the increase in richness and size encountered with this and many other Knoll Vinothek bottlings is truly conducive to more appropriately cellaring the wine, let alone to its being longer-lived. I would favor planning to drink this big boy over the next 5-7 years.

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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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