Austria, Wachau
In adding an Austrian domaine to the Great Domaines portfolio for the first time, there was very little discussion over who it would be. Weingut Knoll is easily one of Austria’s very best white wine producers and their gothic looking labels have cultivated as much of a cult following as the wines themselves.
While the label design has remain unchanged for decades, and with tradition very much key to the domaine’s philosophy, everything else at Knoll is consistently progressing. Emmerich Knoll junior now works alongside his parents Emmerich and Monika, and has been chairman of Vinea Wachau since 2012. The winery, comprising of a new building that was opened in 2014, houses exclusively old oak foudres for vinification, and the family holds dear to a winemaking philosophy that places varietal site expression above all else.
At Weingut Knoll, around 18 hectares of vines are cultivated. Just under half of this is dedicated to Grüner Veltliner, grown on the Kreutles, Trum, Loibenberg and Schütt sites. Riesling makes up the other 45% or so, planted on the Loibenberg, Kellerberg, Pfaffenberg and Schütt sites.
