Winemaker Notes
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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James Suckling
Enticing and subtle nose of Yamanashi white peach, wild berries and herbs. Ripe, but also seriously concentrated and elegant, this has deep minerality at the very long and focused finish. This is built for the long term, but is already really delicious.
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Wine Enthusiast
This is the absolute showstopper for a classic Riesling. It is a very expressive, medium-bodied version, with lots of flesh, offset by mouthwatering acidity that gives this ample energy and drive. Notes of elderflower, jasmine, yellow plum and kumquat impart charm on the midpalate, while hints of cardamom and orange blossom linger on the long finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Prager’s 2021 Ried Klaus Riesling Smaragd is pure yet very intense on the nose, with a bright yet concentrated fruit aroma. On the palate, this is a rich and powerful, very dense and almost massive Riesling with some Veltliner features in terms of texture. Though slightly bitter, the finish is savory, pure and saline and encountered by rich and concentrated fruit. This is a massive but promising wine that will perform much better from a bigger glass.
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Wine Spectator
Expressive and round, with a densely layered mix of warm pear coulis and floral high tones of jasmine, honeysuckle and elderflower. Shows a saline beam of acidity that cuts through the concentrated palate, while whiffs of smoke and buttered brioche close out the long finish. Delicious.
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.