Weingut Emmerich Knoll Ried Kreutles Gruner Veltliner Smaragd, Wachau, Austria

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The 2007 Gruner Veltliner Smaragd Kreutles – closest of any wine here (in date of picking and in style) to a transition between acts one and two of this year’s harvest – smells of lemon oil, caraway, and toasted nuts, superficially resembling certain Loire Sauvignons. It offers an admirable sense of stuffing and textural richness with turnip and beet flavors as well as a broth-like impression of chalk-suffused minerality all adding to the citrus and nuts. For all of its fullness, this displays finishing refreshment. It should be worth following from bottle for at least 4-5 years. Like many of their neighbors, the Knolls harvested Federspiel already in late September, but then largely sat out the rains for three weeks before commencing to pick Smaragd. Botrytis-affected clusters were segregated and pressed immediately, and even the entirely healthy portion of the crop was given less skin contact than usual. A few botrytized rows or parcels were left to hang for nobly sweet wine (in a vintage where few Wachauer followed suit) although not from Riesling. I continue to long for the return of a vintage wherein the Knoll Gruner Veltliner outshines their Riesling, as has not happened for some years now. As has once again become the norm here, none of the Smaragd (save for the Muskateller) were bottled before late summer of last year, and my most recent notes are from cask (or occasionally tank).Importer: Vin Divino, Chicago, IL; tel. (773) 334-6700

Unlike some other Wachau producers, Knoll restrains the alcohol even in the ripest wines. That means a wine like this has great freshness to go with the rich fruit. The balance is the thing – fresh citrus, ripe pears and spice and a fine depth of flavor. The acidity comes bursting through the finish.——R.V.(7/1/2009)—— 90