2016 Rudi Pichler Riesling Smaragd Kirchweg Wachau Austria 750 ml

Austria’s Best at America’s Best Price

The Wachau, northwest of Vienna, is Austria’s most prized wine region. It consists of sloping and terraced vineyards that quickly ascend out of the banks of the Danube. This is where the Pichler clan has been cultivating vines since the early 1730s, and where Rudi Pichler grew up in a house that his family has owned since 1884. In his youth, he’d wake up to orders to milk the cows, then work until the evening in the wine cellars. Those early days doubtless instilled the work ethic that paved Pichler’s way to Vintner of the Year honors, which he won in 2010 from Austria’s prestigious Falstaff Wine Guide. But they also instilled in him a traditional sense of winemaking.

The James Suckling 96-point 2016 Rudi Pichler Riesling Smaragd Kirchweg is from a site that borders Hochrain and whose name means “churchpath.” Kirchweg is known for the Wachau’s classic wind-blown silty loess soil, which was deposited in the region 14,000 years ago and is high in alluvial sand and coarsely grained stones. Showing a bright and intense nose of ruby red grapefruit, white pepper, and sliced fennel, this wine—which earned a stunning 96-point score from James Suckling—has a gorgeous lift on the palate. It’s a little more focused than the Hochrain, and behind its fantastic weight and density offers a beautifully defined finish. On top of all that, our six-pack price on Kirchweg is the best in the nation.