star (2014-04-06)
As you begin to taste widely from the great estates of Austria you may notice that some producers emphasize power and concentration (F.X. Pichler, Hirtzberger) while others seem to emphasize delicate purity around a mineral core (Veder-Mahlberg, Alzinger). While I would certainly align Knoll with the latter, there is intense concentration to these wines that makes them powerful, without feeling big. Much of these distinctions are due to producers’ choices on at what ripeness level to pick, the use (or not) of botrytis, and oxygen exposure during fermentation.

I’ve enjoyed Knoll back to the early ’70s, and many bottles from the ’80s and ’90s – and not just Smaragds, but Kabinetts/Federspiels as well – and not once have I been disappointed. The concentration at the core is always wrapped in delicate fruit for a perfectly poised expression of terroir and beauty. While their youthful dimension is delicious, they pay off in spades in the mid-to-long term aging range beyond any producer I have experienced.

In some ways I hope you don’t take me seriously because selfishly I would love to have some of these rest unnoticed in the cellar so we can have the pleasure of knowing them in their maturity. Not the best business sense, but certainly the best drinking sense. You’re going to hear me say this all again about Knoll and a handful of other top Austrian producers. I’m going to keep talking and flapping and jumping and generally just being totally obsessive all over again – because this is what white wine is supposed to taste like, and this is what white wine is supposed to age like.

Knoll 2012 Grüner Veltliner Kreutles Federspiel
Just behind the town at the base of the slopes lies Kreutles vineyard. The gentle slope and deeper top soils make it ideal for the planting of Gruner Veltliner, and certainly it is recognized as a top source for GV in the Wachau.

(pralinka)
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