External search
Google (images)
Wine Advocate
Wine Spectator
Burghound
Wine-Searcher
Vintages
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
Show more
From this producer
Show all wines
All tasting notes
|
| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 91.8 pts. and median of 92 pts. in 19 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by diggydan on 1/21/2023 & rated 96 points: Beautiful and mature riesling, pretty much everything you could want from Wachau. (376 views) | | | Tasted by Stefan75 on 7/2/2019 & rated 91 points: From Mag, nicely developed and a typical Riesling smell and taste, not too much oak as some other Rieslings Smaragd from Wachau, drink or hold (935 views) | | | Tasted by EMAZurich on 6/29/2019 & rated 92 points: Magnum. Grossartige Nase nach Schiesspulver, Salz, Mirabellen. Am Gaumen schlank und säurebetont, wunderschön! (903 views) | | | Tasted by Bob H on 8/16/2018: Light golden in the glass; a honeyed note on the nose.
Taut, with pronounced acidity - bordering on shrill (and this from a taster that loves acidity). I will guess still too young, but perhaps just an unbalanced wine. (1189 views) | | | Tasted by Bob H on 5/20/2017: Light bronze color in the glass; great nose, with white fruit cocktail over slate followed by a hint of petrol.
Ripe & dry on the palate, medium-bodied, decent acidity, good persistence. Sweet & sour white fruits - complex. Very good right now, but still capable of further positive development with additional age. I like this! (1359 views) | | | Tasted by Kemo Sabe on 3/17/2017 & rated 93 points: Classic Riesling. Crisp, tons of acidity, vibrant. Lemon, petrol, white flowers, light fruit. Dry which is the way I like my Riesling. This drinks like it's young and I bet it's in the zone for a long time. Very enjoyable. (1228 views) | | | Tasted by Mr T on 12/26/2016: Late in dinner but excellent if slightly more acidic than hoped for (933 views) | | | Tasted by mjf@ulkner on 12/16/2016 & rated 91 points: Full bodied apricot, and ripe peach notes. Just a hint of residual sugar on finish makes for terrific pairing with a spicy curry dish. Ripe but not over the top or boozy- aging gracefully. (944 views) | | | Tasted by budh on 12/9/2016 & rated 93 points: Very nice, even if still young. Citrus, pear, slight petrol, a semillon-like waxiness on the nose. That plus a little grapefruit and wet stone minerality on the palate. Gorgeous creamy texture, long finish. A little frizzante initially, but that lessens with air time. Complexity, balance, long finish - what's not to like? (950 views) | | | Tasted by Mr T on 12/5/2015: Decanted 20-30 minutes
Very dry and crisp acid
Not weighty or candied
Excellent with fish
90-91 (1049 views) | | | Tasted by AtoZ on 10/4/2015: Needed air. Fairly elegant. Quite dry. No petrol. Needs more time ? (1131 views) | | | Tasted by Kriz on 4/16/2015 & rated 93 points: This needs air. Very closed on day one and way better after a night in the fridge. Nose with citrus and unripe pineapple. Good palate with freshness, some bitterness and full of taste. I like it very much but please give it some more time. (1350 views) | | | Tasted by RajivAyyangar on 4/6/2015 & rated 91 points: Monday night Blinds at Nopa - Take 3 (Nopa SF): Summary:
This is a really, really beautiful wine. After the unveiling, I had a nice conversation with this and some pork rillettes.
Score: Around 9.
-------------
Wine 3: (blind from a magnum)
Served super cold in a standard glass.
Visual
Clear, bright. Medium gold. Moderate concentration. Reflections of silver.
No gas/sediment. Medium / medium plus viscosity.
(tasted: ever so slightly off-dry)
Nose
Moderate intensity. Clean
Expressive. Slight botrytis? (saffron, wax, and rice). Faint detergent / terpenes. Lemon, wax, unripe peach. Light saffron and rice. Light ripe pear.
Moderate to moderate plus complexity.
Youthful to developing.
Palate
Slight RS, but not off-dry.
Light plus body. Light plus alcohol.
More wax, saffron, lemon on the palate.
Medium plus acid - malic and some tartaric.
Is there minerality on the finish? YES. I get it! I see the minerality! It’s acidity wrapped up in a stone quality that tastes like licking rocks. It’s not just puckering malic acid.
This is balanced beautifully.
It has moderate to moderate plus complexity.
The finish is moderate plus in length.
Initial Conclusions
Old World style.
Cool climate.
Developing - so 3-6 years old.
Possible Varietals:
Chenin (Vouvray molleaux - not sweet enough).
Chenin (savennieres - alcohol too low?)
Pinot gris / Pinot Blanc (no phenolic bitterness. Alcohol too low).
Riesling - I think it’s Riesling.
Possible Countries (given that it’s Riesling):
Germany - it could be a trocken, but it probably would be sweeter, firmly in off-dry territory.
Alsace - it could very well be, though I’d tend to expect bone-dry to firmly dry.
Austrian - Not totally dry, yet not off-dry.
Final Conclusions
This is a Riesling, from Austria, 2011 vintage. [I didn’t have a region/appellation guess.]
Actual
2010 Riesling
Weingut Knoll
Ried Loibenberg
Smaragd (highest of three ripeness designations - Steinfeder, then Federspiel, then Smaragd).
Austria - Wachau
Analysis
I think I nailed this, though I got lucky with Austria. Once I went Riesling, I pretty much guessed the country based on RS.
But overall I did an excellent job going through the grid and remaining open. The faint terpenes made sense - Riesling is technically a terpenic white, though lower in aromatics than, say, Gewurztraminer. The strong acidity was a key indicator.
LM mentioned 2010 was a cool year so probably there was no Botrytis. I still think I smelled it, and it’s not unusual for the region/style. So maybe this was a clue. I need to figure out what Botrytics smells like. (1757 views) | | | Tasted by mjf@ulkner on 12/22/2014 & rated 92 points: Apricots, ripe cantaloupe flavors. Ripe, but this has plenty of backbone. Will age gracefully for many more years. (1239 views) | | | Tasted by Herschel Krustofski on 9/5/2014 & rated 93 points: Fantastic potential. Needs time; give it another 5 years. (1162 views) | | | Tasted by Seth Rosenberg on 6/11/2014 & rated 92 points: Zak's bottle. Textbook Austrian Riesling. Nose of peach and peach pit, minerals, good ripeness, fennel, steely, stones. Very intense. Big on the palate - burly showing some ripeness, but not overripe at all. Packed full - apple, mineral, peach pit and lemon on finish. This is big but sleek. Needs years. Nose - 5/6, Palate - 5/6, Finish - 5/6, Je ne Sais Quoi - 1/2 = 16/20. (1593 views) | | | Tasted by Bob H on 3/1/2014: Gold/bronze in the glass; nice minerally nose featuring white fruit cocktail.
Tart acidity on the palate - the components here are nice, but the wine has not really knit itself together yet. Not sure if it's just too young or I've caught it at an awkward spot. Drinkable, but not pleasurable. (1056 views) | | | Tasted by Kriz on 9/18/2012 & rated 87 points: Apple, grapefruit, good acidity. A nice, medium bodied wine. (1541 views) |
| Weingut Knoll Producer websiteRiesling Varietal character (Appellation America) | A short history of Riesling (Uncork) | Riesling (wikipedia)Smaragd Wikipedia about Smaragd (german)
Google translation in English of the German Wikipedia about Smagard
From what I understand, these wines (very ripe, dry, late-harvest, etc.) were going to be designated Honivogl (after a kind of bird found in or near the vineyards, meaning 'honey bird'. However, the Honivogl family was involved in the wine trade in Austria and objected that this would cause confusion and weakening of their trademark. Another creature was therefore selected (the green lizard called Smaragd) to be the mascot (sort of ) for this kind of wine in the Wachau. Source: Dr. Peter Ruhrberg, Saarbrücken, personal communication, 9/2007. jhtAustria Wein aus Österreich (Österreichischen Weinmarketinggesellschaft) | Austrian Wine Classifications (Winemonger.com)Niederösterreich Weinstraße Niederösterreich
Lower Austria Wine Region
Lower Austria isn't "southern" Austria, but rather northeastern. It derives its name from its downriver location on the Danube River, which flows from west to east.Wachau Official tourism website
on weinlagen-info |
|
