2013 Riesling Vinothek Smaragd

Marine breeze and a slight sweatiness in the nose are joined by high-toned mintiness and nuances of peach and nectarine that then lusciously inform the full, faintly oily palate. Pithy pit piquancy serves for welcome counterpoint and grapefruit for zesty and vivacious juiciness. For all of its almost honeyed richness, this wine’s finishing penetration is downright rapier-like, displaying an alluring interchange with bright citrus, glowingly cyanic fruit pit, and cooling green herbal notes. It originated in a portion of Loibenberg where there was considerable fog and trapping of moisture, explained Knoll Senior, and consequently a higher instance of botrytis. I continue to find it slightly disconcerting that it is precisely the botrytis-influenced wines that get chosen for labeling as Knoll Vinothekfüllungen. That said, the present example is certainly impressive on those terms.