Emmerich Knoll Riesling Smaragd Ried Kellerberg 2022
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The Land
Ried Kellerberg rises steeply above the village of Dürnstein and is widely considered one of the greatest vineyards in the Wachau, if not all of Austria. The site faces south to southeast between roughly 200 and 340 meters, built on hard Gföhl gneiss shot through with pockets of loess. That combination, primary rock for tension and minerality, loess for depth and flesh, is what makes Kellerberg wines so structured. Steep terraces, full southern sun, and cold night air rolling off the Danube give Riesling here both power and nerve. This is a Grand Cru site in everything but name.
The Wine
100% Riesling at the Smaragd level, the ripest and most serious tier in the Vinea Wachau system, bottled fully dry. Fermented with ambient yeasts and raised in the traditional Wachau way in large old oak and stainless steel. Crushed stone and lime, wild mint, white peach and apricot, and a deep saline intensity that builds through a long, taut finish. This is a tightly coiled, powerful Riesling with a firm acid spine, the kind that can feel almost closed in its youth and unfolds over years. Patience pays: give it air now or cellar it for a decade or more. The 2022 vintage in the Wachau was warm and ripe while still holding good acidity, well suited to a site with Kellerberg's natural drive.
The People
The Knoll family has farmed the Loiben and Dürnstein villages since the early 1800s, working roughly 15 hectares in the Wachau's most celebrated sites, Kellerberg and Schütt among them. Led today by Emmerich Knoll, the estate bottles under the unmistakable baroque St. Urban label and belongs to Vinea Wachau, whose rules define the Steinfeder, Federspiel, and Smaragd categories. Knoll's wines are famously precise, mineral, and built for the long haul, and they sit at the top of collector and restaurant lists year after year. The family also runs the 400-year-old Loibnerhof restaurant nearby.
Food Pairing
A serious Riesling for a serious plate. Roast chicken with herbs and lemon, seared scallops, pork schnitzel, or a rich Thai green curry where the wine's cut and stony depth balance the heat and coconut. It also stands up beautifully to smoked trout and aged Alpine cheese. Decant it, or cellar it and reach for it in ten years.
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The Wachau, widely considered Austria's premier wine region, is a breathtakingly beautiful valley along the Danube River, renowned for its powerful and dry expressions of both Grüner Veltliner and Riesling. These two grapes are the stars here, producing wines that are typically full-bodied and structured, yet always maintain a signature Austrian freshness. The Wachau is unique in its own ripeness scale to categorize its wines: Steinfeder, a rarely seen lighter style, Federspiel, representing a balanced ripeness with vibrant acidity, and Smaragd, indicating riper, more exotic fruit, sometimes with a touch of botrytis depending on the producer's style. This region, with its steep, terraced vineyards and unique microclimates, is home to a concentration of Austria's very best producers, crafting wines that are benchmarks for both Grüner Veltliner and Riesling globally.
Austria - Wachau
Riesling is a truly noble grape, known for its incredibly high acidity and a flavor profile that can range from bone dry to lusciously sweet. Germany is its heartland, and it's responsible for some of the world's most age-worthy examples, but Riesling also thrives in Austria, where it usually is dry. In Alsace, it takes on a slightly richer texture, while in parts of Australia, like the Clare and Eden Valleys, it displays a uniquely powerful and lime-tinged aromatic profile. This is a grape that has no problem showcasing its origins, and it's a fantastic example of how one variety can show many different expressions, each with its own unique appeal.
