Winemaker Notes
Wachau Riesling is dry and often defined by high levels of dry extract (due to a lengthy ripening period) and a pleasing freshness (due to dramatic temperature swings between day and night). Rudi Pichler’s Riesling Achleithen comes from steep, southwest-facing terraces of meager primary rock soils resulting in a dry white wine of great structure and strong mineral character.
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 a certain amount of saltiness. Conversely, it can highlight foods such as fish or vegetables in the same way a squeeze of lemon or a vinaigrette can.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A very fresh and complex nose with mountain herbs, flint, wildflowers, white pepper and a gently spicy edge, too. The palate has a succulent feel with such juicy and concentrated stone-fruit flavors. Depth of flavor and elegant structure.
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Decanter
The steep gneiss terraces of Achleithen are perfect for Riesling. When first tasted last year, this wine seemed surprisingly approachable, but it has now become more reticent and austere. It opened up a day later to show some lightly toasty nuances. The attack is firmer too; tight and nutty, with fine concentration and more weight of fruit than Hochrain. It's packed with stony extract, and although the acidity is not that pronounced, it has structure and grip. There's admirable depth of flavour and a restrained power. Although not overtly fruity, it revels in a creamy texture on the long finish. Drinking Window 2023 - 2040
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Ried Achleiten Riesling Smaragd shows some acid aromas on the first nose, which is irritating me, like all the 2018s Rieslings here. Once you get used to it, the nose is then clear, fine and elegant, even stony, coolish and flinty. On the palate, this is a lush and round, textured and charming Riesling with ripe and elegant acidity and lingering mineral grip on the finish. Tasted at the domain 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.