2006 Emmerich Knoll Riesling Durnsteiner Kellerberg Smaragd

I found it surprising both that Knoll served his 2006 Riesling Smaragd Kellerberg after the corresponding Loibenberg, and that it had such a restrained, cool fruit personality, There is a purity and clarity on display this year that I have not witnessed before with Knoll’s Kellerberg, but then, he is learning the secrets of one parcel of Kellerberg that he recently acquired, and his predominance of young vines in this site naturally becomes less of a handicap year by year. Gooseberry, yellow plum, and grapefruit are suffused with white pepper both on the nose and palate, and the finish is refined and even a bit austere in its cool restraint of fruit and its notes of pepper and stone. This should be fascinating to follow in the bottle for at least 6-8 years. Having finished picking the last day of October makes this by one measure among the earliest harvests on record here, “certainly,” says Knoll, “since the early nineties, anyway.” (In 2003, they began earlier but finished later.) While this year’s Federspiel bottlings were by Knoll’s admission “right on the border” of going over into legal Smaragd territory and required quick action during harvest, they nevertheless retain the requisite sense of lightness and refreshment. But if the harvest was relatively hurried, Knoll’s approach in the cellar was anything but, and none of his 2006 Smaragd had been bottled yet when I tasted them last summer. Importer: Vin Divino, Chicago, IL; tel. (773) 334-6700