Kellerberg Riesling Smaragd
⏳ Drinking Window
2025 - 2045
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
roasted pork belly, spicy Thai curry, seared scallops
✨ Technical Specifications
The Dürnsteiner Kellerberg is widely considered one of the absolute crown jewels of the Wachau, a dramatic, steep, south-facing natural amphitheater of weathered Gföhl gneiss. Here, the vines of F.X. Pichler cling to ancient, hand-built stone terraces that capture the intense daytime sun, while cool air currents from the northern Waldviertel forest sweep down at night, preserving a thrilling, electric acidity in the grapes. Named 'Smaragd' after the emerald-green lizards that dart across these sun-baked stone walls, this classification represents the pinnacle of dry Wachau wines. F.X. Pichler's Kellerberg Riesling Smaragd is a masterclass in tension and power, defined by its crystalline minerality, smoky flint nuances, and concentrated stone fruit character, reflecting a winemaking legacy that treats each terrace as a sacred monument to terroir.
🍾 About the Producer
Established in 1898 in Oberloiben, Weingut F.X. Pichler stands as one of the pinnacle estates of Austria's Wachau valley. Elevated to international legend status under Franz Xaver Pichler from 1971 onward, the domain is directed today by seventh-generation winemaker Lucas Pichler alongside his wife Johanna. The estate stewards approximately 20 hectares of vines, largely centered on precipitous, hand-carved dry-stone terraces of primary rock, weathered gneiss, amphibolite, and loess. Benefiting from the climatic tension between warm Pannonian airflows and cool Alpine drafts along the Danube, Pichler crafts monumental, dry white wines of chiselled mineral precision, depth, and longevity. The family shifted to certified organic viticulture and voluntarily departed the Vinea Wachau hierarchy to prioritize terroir-driven Wachau DAC site typicity. Its benchmark portfolio includes single-vineyard expressions from Ried Kellerberg, Loibenberg, and Steinertal, alongside the cult cuvées 'M' and the transcendent 'Unendlich'.
🍇 Grapes
Riesling
🍷 ABV
13% - 14%