Weingut Emmerich Knoll, Ried Schütt, Riesling Smaragd

Just an hour north of Vienna perched above the Danube River, the Wachau offers a dramatic vista of steep, terraced vineyards and a magnificent landscape akin to an ancient, green amphitheater, which consequently garnered the appellation the extraordinary UNESCO World Heritage Site designation. The triangular, walled, “Ried (vineyard) Schütt” is nestled on the sweet spot at the base of the famous Loibenberg terraced hillside just past the Hohereck vineyard. Historically one of the most important single parcels in all of the Wachau, Schütt, which belongs solely to the Knolls and appropriately translates to, “debris,” is a unique geological deposit of complex minerals that have collected on this treasured spot due to centuries of weathering, its flattened shape midway down the slope and a small gully that rests above. The result is a compact, indescribably complex mineral concentration that is more intense and inimitable than any Riesling I have ever tasted.  The precise minerality derive