The Knoll family has been farming vineyards in the village of Unterloiben since the early nineteenth century. Now led by Emmerich Knoll III, the family works sixteen hectares of steep, terraced vineyards along the northern bank of the Danube, planted primarily to grüner veltliner and riesling across some of the Wachau’s most storied sites: Schütt, Loibenberg, Kellerberg, Kreutles. They ferment with native yeasts in stainless steel and large neutral oak casks, releasing nothing before it is ready. Their iconic Saint Urban label, first used in 1962, has become one of the most recognizable images in Austrian wine.

Ried Schütt is one of the Wachau’s most revered vineyards, first documented in 1289. Its gneiss soils, deposited through the Mentalgraben gully over millennia, sit on steep south- and southeast-facing terraces above the Danube, where cool air funnels through the gully at night and moderates the warm daytime exposure. Knoll’s riesling from this site is aged for eight to nine months in large neutral oak casks, allowing the wine’s structure and minerality to develop without masking the terroir.

The 2022 Schütt Riesling is rich and precise, as you'd expect from a Smaragd — the Wachau's highest classification, reserved for wines of full ripeness and concentration. White peach, orange peel, and flint on the nose, with a firm acid structure that gives the wine focus and verve. The finish is long, with a chewy mineral extract and extraordinary aging potential. Like the Grüner Veltliner from this site, the 2022 was produced in smaller quantities due to hail and harvest-season rain, making it even more precious than usual.