Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Stunningly deep nose with earth, dried-pear and peach character. Essence of minerals on the ripe yet sleek palate. Very long, silky finish. Bottled in December 2017. From biodynamically grown grapes with Demeter certification. Drink now. Screw cap.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Saah's 2011 Vom Stein Riesling Federspiel is intense and elegant on the herbal nose, with its gooseberry, grass and seed aromas, but it doesn't display aromatic stone-fruit aromas like the 2018. Coming from another warm year, this a round and elegant, pretty charming and balanced dry Riesling with some fine tannins. Bottled with 12% alcohol in December 2017. Tasted at the domain from lot 509212 in September 2019.
Riesling possesses a remarkable ability to reflect the character of wherever it is grown while still maintaining its identity. A regal variety of incredible purity and precision, this versatile grape can be just as enjoyable dry or sweet, young or old, still or sparkling and can age longer than nearly any other white variety. Somm Secret—Given how difficult it is to discern the level of sweetness in a Riesling from the label, here are some clues to find the dry ones. First, look for the world “trocken.” (“Halbtrocken” or “feinherb” mean off-dry.) Also a higher abv usually indicates a drier Riesling.
As Austria’s most prestigious wine growing region, the landscape of the Wachau is—not surprisingly—one of its most dramatic. Millions of years ago, the Danube River chiseled its way through the earth, creating steep terraces of decomposed volcanic and metamorphic rock. Harsh Ice Age winds brought deposits of ancient glacial dust and loess to the terrace’s eastern faces. Today these steep surfaces of nutrient-poor and fast draining soil are home to some of Austria’s very best sites for both Grüner Veltliner and Riesling.
Wachau is small, comprising a mere three percent of Austria’s vine surface and, considering relatively low yields, represents a miniscule proportion of total wine production. Diurnal temperature shifts in Wachau facilitate great balance of sugar and phenolic ripeness in its grapes. At night cold air from the Alps and forests in the northwest displace warm afternoon air, which gets sucked upstream along the Danube.
Its sites are actually so varied and distinct that more emphasis is going into vineyard-designated offerings even despite grape variety. Grüner Veltliner and Riesling are most prominent, but the region produces Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc (Weissburgunder), Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc and Zweigelt among other local variants.