Knoll Flashcards
Who grows the grapes at Weingut Emmerich Knoll? who makes the wines?
Emmerich Knoll III is the third generation to oversee wine growing at the estate. The Knolls have been in Unterloiben area for centuries; the 400 year old restaurant “Loibnerhof – Knoll” run by extended family members has a reputation as one of the best in the Wachau. Work in the vineyards and in the cellar is a family affair. Emmerich II and his wife Monika have only recently handed over the reigns to their sons Emmerich III, who oversees the cellar and August, who leads work in the vineyards.
What wines do they make at Weingut Knoll?
Knoll is best known as one of Austria’s leading producers of single vineyard Grüner Veltliner and Rieslings and 95% of their production is dedicated to these two grapes. The Knolls focus on Riesling (45-50% of the total) is abnormally high for the region where Grüner is the most commonly planted grape. In total, the family produces 25-30 bottlings each year at various levels of ripeness from Schuett, Loibenberg, Kellerberg, and Kreutles in the Wachau and a small holding in the Kremstal vineyard Pfaffenberg. The remaining 5% of grapes include Chardonnay, Gelber Muskateller, Rivaner, Gelber Traminer and Pinot Noir.
When did Weingut Knoll start?
There are mentions of some of the single vineyards now farmed by the Knoll family as early as 1379, though the family has “only” been established on site as winemakers for the last three generations.
Schütt vineyard elevation, etc?
The Schütt* has a nice southeast exposure and sits at 1,500 feet above sea level, straddling the border between the villages of Durnstein and Loiben. The rocky slopes of the Schütt are so steep even a Mosel vineyard worker would get dizzy here. Despite the difficulties in tending grape vines in this steep, high altitude location, the Schütt has been recognized by the locals as a supreme grape growing site going all the way back to 1379!
Schütt vineyard soil; microclimate?
The Schütt’s soil is predominantly loess and loam and above the vineyard is a forested area between two summits known as the Mentalgraben. This forested cut in the mountains creates a unique microclimate that greatly benefits the grapes in the Schütt. As Emmerich Knoll III describes it, “whereas we have southerly exposed Loibenberg and Höhereck vineyards that are pretty warm,in the Schütt we have additional cold, falling winds coming from the forests down the Mentalgraben that are refreshing the Schütt wines. Good ripening conditions meet cooler night temperatures, especially in the ripening season, that result in even more minerality and diversity of taste.”
Loibenberg
This is the most easterly vineyard of the Wachau—it actually borders vineyards in Krems. Here, the convoluted rock formations that characterize most of the Wachau are gone. So while the slope is still steep, the land is more gentle and rounded. The Danube Valley opens out to the east, and the influence of warm, easterly winds is more keenly felt here than in more westerly areas of the Wachau.
It’s no surprise, then, that Rainer Wess describes this as the warmest vineyard in the Wachau. Wess, who has worked in Bordeaux and with large wine companies in Austria before setting out on his own, is one of the Wachau’s young guns. He produces wines from Loibenberg and the adjacent Pfaffenberg vineyard, which is in Krems. “Despite being next door, on the same slope, they are different,” he says. “Loibenberg is gneiss, Pfaffenberg has more loess. The wines from Pfaffenberg are softer and more open; those from Loibenberg are spicy, more structured. It is the difference between the wines of Wachau and Kremstal expressed in the terroir.”
Pfaffenberg
The Pfaffenberg is the most westerly of the five hills (the others are Schreck, Goldberg, Wachtberg and Kögl) that form a line of vineyards around and to the west of Krems. The primary rock is gneiss, granite and schist. On the top is loess. The terraces are at 750 to 810 feet; in some places, the decomposed humus layer is as little as six inches deep before you hit bedrock.
This is Riesling country. The wines express pure, perfumed fruit, and flavors of white currants and crisp green apples. As with all fine Rieslings, they age well—at least 10 to 15 years is typical.
“For me, these are the purest Rieslings in Krems,” says Salomon. “They have all the intensity of flavor, the structure and the richness, but at the same time, a steely heart.”
