2014 Nikolaihof Riesling Smaragd Vom Stein- Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau (5/26/2020)
First time with this wine…more viscous than I thought it would be…ripe and somewhat oily pit orchard, pear, tropical pineapple fruit…yet zippy high toned fresh squeeze of lemon/lime/tangerine citrus, and a sour green apple skin explode that ripeness into energized brightness! Then…you get this crazy crushed geology that’s salty, bitter, and kind of funky with marine air, chalky limestone, damp moss rock…slight well integrated petrol gas rag and waxy lanolin. Florals are tropical and fresh with blossoms…chalky…very engaging. The texture in this wine is fascinating…seems like it will be sweet, but totally dry…and more substantial in body than a German Riesling…complex and tasty as all get out! Fan! (95 pts.)
And all this from a wine from a difficult vintage. I have seen the vintage describesd as “Difficult year, heavy rainfall; very edgy wines”. This vineyard is on the south side of Donau (in Mautern) facing north - so it is slightly cooler than vineyards on the northern side of Donau, like the vineyard from which they make their “Steiner Hund”. That vineyard is actually in Kremstal, so not really a Wachau-wine at all.
I also feel that Nikolaihofs wines have fallen a bit in quality after they left the winemaking to the son. Nikolaihof used to be a big favourite of mine, but now I buy more wines from Prager, Alzinger and Knoll. And from Bründlmayer and Gobelsburg in Kamptal.
Good to see that you like the wine! Wachau has been a favourite of mine for the last 20 years.
Unlike 2013 and subsequent years 2014 was not really good In Wachau
Alzinger did degrade most if their wines.
But despite that still some nice wines were made
I agree with you on Nikolaihof quality change
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