Fresh pear, fig, and lime inform the relatively lean but generously juicy Knoll 2010 Riesling Smaragd Kellerberg, which finishes with site-typical, peppery pungency and welcome levity; like other Knoll Smaragd Rieslings of its vintage weighing in at only a bit over 13% alcohol. Both Knoll Senior and I note an energy and a “precision” of flavor that one didn’t notice in the past, and which is doubtless attributable to the advancing age of the vines. “I’m a devotee of this sleeker sort of Smaragd,” remarks Knoll. “Warmth and wind at the end of October gave Smaragd the extra push, especially for Gruner Veltliner,” notes Emmerich Knoll Senior, and his estate did not begin picking that category until the first week in November. “Up until then, it pretty much counted as settled that we wouldn’t bottle a 2010 Vinothek in either Riesling or Gruner Veltliner, which in fact we did. But I can’t recall when the Smaragd ever had acid levels identical to the Federspiel as happened this year. Not that I’m unhappy about this,” he adds with a laugh. “There have been and will be quite a few vintages in which we would be happy for some of 2010’s acidity.” A portion of the Riesling Federspiel crop was de-acidified as must. Total production was only around half of what Knoll considers normal. None of the Smaragd – collectively, almost unbelievably, representing the heart of one of the finest Knoll collections in memory – was not due to have been bottled until late this summer.Importer: Circo Vino Besenville, IL; tel. (417) 732 4200