Literally just landed, this latest suite from Emmerich Knoll won’t hang around. This is, after all, perhaps the cultest of cult producers operating in Austria’s no. 1 region: The Wachau Valley.
The inimitable Knoll label – featuring a bad-ass Saint Urban (patron saint of wine-growers) – hints at the fact that you’re in the presence of something sublime.
We’ve just received the Federspiel wines from 2020. Everyone is familiar with the sense of intensity and structure in these Federspiel wines, which pull you firmly into the Knoll realm. With the Ortsweine (village-designated Grüner and Riesling) from Loiben, you’re already in a place to revel in purity of fruit and chiming minerality.
Even more exciting is to have a pair of single-site wines at this same level. And we’re not just talking any old sites; Kellerberg and Loibenberg, for this Federspiel Grüner and Riesling respectively, are the stuff of legend. In the cool Wachau vintage of 2020, the combination of Knoll’s ripe precision and site character culminate in wines of striking personality and value.
The two new Smaragd wines hail from the fantastic 2019 vintage. Loibenberg features again, this time alongside Kreutles.
Whenever you read about the wines of Emmerich Knoll, it’s remarkable how even seasoned critics deeply familiar with them can’t help but marvel at the seeming contradiction at their heart: such power and depth, yet so sleek, fresh and energetic. Embrace it!
2020 Emmerich Knoll Grüner Veltliner Federspiel $54
2020 Emmerich Knoll Grüner Veltliner Loibner Federspiel is classified as Ortswein (village wine) and comes from various sites around the family home.
The vines are generally planted on flat land with an elevation of about 200m. The soils include the floodplain, with sand on Danube gravel. Vines are 25 years old on average (ranging from 5 to 45 years) and are planted at 3,500-4,000 per hectare.
100% hand harvest, with no destemming. Airbag pressed with one to four hours’ skin contact. Fermentation takes place in cask and stainless-steel tanks with a capacity of 500 to 5,000 litres, depending on the batch quality. Fermentation with native and cultured yeast goes for between five and 10 days, with temperatures at 20 to 23°C. The wine is aged on lees for a minimum of four months, with no bâtonnage. Alcohol 12%; RS 1.2g/L; acidity 6.2g/L.
Yellow fruit with a whiff of fennel and radish spiciness. It has a fleshy feel and powdery texture, bright acidity, lemon zest, a nutty and saline character, a hit of pepper, and a gently bitter finish of excellent length. Weighty, but still kind of light on its feet. Always a lovely drink, and so it is in 2020.
93 points. Gary Walsh, The Wine Front
2020 Emmerich Knoll Grüner Veltliner Kellerberg Federspiel $89
2020 Emmerich Knoll Grüner Veltliner Ried Kellerberg Federspiel comes from the great Kellerberg vineyard. The vines are at the foot of the mountain, on a south-southeast facing slope at 204m. These are alluvial soils with ice-age loess and gneiss components. The vines are 22 years old on average and are planted at 4,000 per hectare.
Fermentation takes place in cask and stainless-steel tanks with a capacity of 500 to 2,000 litres, depending on the batch quality. 100% hand harvest, with no destemming. Airbag pressed with one to four hours’ skin contact. Fermentation with native and cultured yeast goes for between five and 10 days, with temperatures at 20 to 23°C. The wine is aged on lees for a minimum of four months, with no bâtonnage. Alcohol 12.5%; RS 1.2g/L; acidity 6.0g/L.
Kellerberg is famed for strong and well-structured Veltliner wines.
A juicy, elegant Wachau Grüner with the sophistication you expect from the region. Plenty of yellow fruit (from mirabelle to nectarine), the wine feeling lighter than it really is, thanks to its sleek and crystalline personality. Long, polished finish. Drink or hold.
92 points. Stuart Pigott, jamessuckling.com
2019 Emmerich Knoll Grüner Veltliner Kreutles Smaragd $89
2019 Emmerich Knoll Grüner Veltliner Ried Kreutles Smaragd is grown on the Kreutles vineyard, which is at the foot of the mountain with an elevation of 240m. Soils are sandy loess with gneiss components. Vines are 25 years old on average (ranging from 5 to 45 years) and are planted at 3,500-4,000 per hectare.
Fermentation takes place in cask and stainless-steel tanks with a capacity of 500 to 4,500 litres, depending on the batch quality. 100% hand harvest, with no destemming. Airbag pressed with one to four hours’ skin contact. Fermentation with native and cultured yeast goes for between five and 15 days, with temperatures at 23 to 26°C. The wine is aged on lees for a minimum of nine months, with no bâtonnage. Alcohol 13.5%; RS 1.5g/L; acidity 4.9g/L.
Kreutles is known for typical Grüner Veltliner that is herbal and spicy, and never too opulent.
A concentrated, medium-to full-bodied Grüner with cool reine-claude plums, mini bananas and a ton of herbs and spices. Superb balance and a long, complex finish. Drink or hold.
95 points. Stuart Pigott, jamessuckling.com
2019 Emmerich Knoll Grüner Veltliner Loibenberg Smaragd $107
2019 Emmerich Knoll Grüner Veltliner Ried Loibenberg Smaragd is grown on the mountain’s south-facing terraces on soils of primeval gneiss rock.
Vines are 28 years old on average (ranging from 10 to 50 years) and are planted at 3,500-4,000 per hectare.
Fermentation takes place in cask and stainless-steel tanks with a capacity of 500 to 4,500 litres, depending on the batch quality. 100% hand harvest, with no destemming. Airbag pressed with one to four hours’ skin contact. Fermentation with native and cultured yeast goes for between five and 15 days, with temperatures at 23 to 26°C. The wine is aged on lees for a minimum of nine months, with no bâtonnage. Alcohol 14%; RS 1.4g/L; acidity 5.1g/L.
Loibenberg is Knoll’s hottest vineyard and yields warm, soft, creamy, yellow-fruited creamy wines.
The super ripe aromas of pears and mini bananas are married to a rich, silky palate, where the power is skilfully underplayed and the long, mineral finish glides over the palate. Drink or hold.
95 points. Stuart Pigott, jamessuckling.com
2020 Emmerich Knoll Loibner Riesling Federspiel $59
2020 Emmerich Knoll Riesling Loibner Federspiel is classified as Ortswein (village wine) and comes from various sites around the family home.
The vines are generally planted on flat land and at the foot of the mountain. The soils include the floodplain and loess with gneiss components. Vines are 25 years old on average (ranging from 5 to 45 years) and are planted at 3,500-4,000 per hectare.
100% hand harvest, with no destemming. Airbag pressed with one to four hours’ skin contact. Fermentation takes place in cask and stainless-steel tanks with a capacity of 500 to 5,000 litres, depending on the batch quality. Fermentation with native and cultured yeast goes for between five and 10 days, with temperatures at 20 to 23°C. The wine is aged on lees for a minimum of four months, with no bâtonnage. Alcohol 12.5%; RS 2.5g/L; acidity 8.3g/L.
The forthright, nutty apple and mirabelle character gives this racy, medium-bodied dry Riesling plenty of appeal. Sleek for 12.5% alcohol and a long, almost steely finish with plenty of minerality. Drink or hold.
91 points. Stuart Pigott, jamessuckling.com
2020 Emmerich Knoll Riesling Loibenberg Federspiel $70
2020 Emmerich Knoll Ried Loibenberg Riesling Federspiel comes from the Loibenberg vineyard, which is a south-facing slope at an elevation of 280 to 380m on weathering bedrock with gneiss components. Vines are 25 years old on average (ranging from 5 to 45 years) and are planted at 5,000-6,000 per hectare.
Fermentation takes place in cask and stainless-steel tanks with a capacity of 500 to 5,000 litres, depending on the batch quality. 100% hand harvest, with no destemming. Airbag pressed with three to six hours’ skin contact. Fermentation with native and cultured yeast goes for between five and 10 days, with temperatures at 20 to 23°C. The wine is aged on lees for a minimum of four months, with no bâtonnage. Alcohol 12.5%; RS 2.7g/L; acidity 8.4g/L.
The Federspiel wines from Loibenberg are tightly acid-driven and full of stone-fruit flavour.
Fine nectarine and fresh-pineapple aromas, plus a ripe and silky personality mark this medium-bodied dry Riesling as something exceptional in the 2020 context. Long, polished finish. Drink or hold.
92 points. Stuart Pigott, jamessuckling.com
Light yellow-green with silver reflections. Fine tropical fruit aromas, a touch of mango and honeyed flowers, minerals, in the background a touch of mandarin zest. Light-weighted, white fruit, fine acid structure, lemon-salt reverberation; a great summer wine.
91-93 points. Falstaff 2021/22