Winemaker Notes
Austrian Riesling is often defined by elevated levels of dry extract thanks to a lengthy ripening period and freshness due to dramatic temperature swings between day and night. “Klaus is not a charming Riesling,” says Toni Bodenstein with a wink. Klaus is Prager’s most assertive and robust Riesling.
Riesling’s high acidity makes it one of the most versatile wines at the table. Riesling can be used to cut the fattiness of foods such as pork or sausages and can tame some saltiness. Conversely, it can highlight foods such as fish or vegetables in the same way a squeeze of lemon or a vinaigrette might.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Riesling Smaragd Ried Klaus is deep, coolish and slightly flinty on the spicy and complex nose where ripe and concentrated stone fruit (peach) aromas are displayed. Powerful, dense and concentrated on the palate, this full-bodied wine is still somewhat pithy and astringent on the finish. Tasted in September 2019. Rating: 93+
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Wine & Spirits
Klaus is a vertiginously steep slope right next to Achleiten; Prager’s parcel was planted in 1952. Those old vines produced an intense riesling in 2018—meaty and dense with grapefruit and ginger flavors bound tight by saline minerality. The wine relaxes as it opens in the glass, showing a little peachy juiciness; cellar it if you prefer more generous flavors. Otherwise, bring on the oysters and enjoy.
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Wine Spectator
Expressive, electrifying white, with a lovely crunch to the texture and loads of mulled spice, coriander, apple and crisp peach flavors. Shows incredible focus and precision, but is still a bit youthful to show its full potential. Long, lip-smacking finish. Excellent expression of the elegant side of Austrian Riesling.
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.