TN: 2006 Nikolaihof Riesling Federspiel Vom Stein (Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau)

  • 2006 Nikolaihof Riesling Federspiel Vom Stein - Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau (4/19/2021)
    I liked this more three years ago, but it’s still very pure and minerally. It just feels a little heavier. I miss the freshness, but am still impressed by the overall depth. Good for contemplation.

Posted from CellarTracker

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Bump… what’s the scoop on this wine? I’ve never tried it, but I’m a big fan of Austrian Riesling.

Looks like the 2014 is a current release. Critics seem smitten (DS gave the 2014 version 97 pts!) and the Envoyer write-up is glowing. But CT notes are only fair to middling.

My experience with Nikolaihof has been that it is a quite natural wine that will show a lot of variation.

It is rare that I am not smitten by Nikolaihof. I do not think of them as “natural wine.”

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Same here. I had a 2017 Hefeabzug GV just the other day that I felt was a bit sub-par for the quality that bottling usually delivers, but that was an outlier, probably just not the strongest vintage for that particular wine. Par for the course. Other than that, one of my very favourite wineries on Planet Earth over the last 20+ years. As for “natural”… they are, in my opinion, far more genuinely natural than most (biodynamic since 1971, IIRC). When I talk or write about wine, it’s mostly in Italian, not English. Italian winespeak includes a term that I often find very useful in describing the kind of wine I like to drink: "digeribilita’ ", as in “easy to digest”. Sure, the idea is pretty obvious, but, at least as far as I’m aware, for some reason, it’s not a notion that gets bandied about a lot when people talk/write about wine in English. Anyway… in my world, Nikolaihof practically epitomises this quality. As ever, the proof is in the pudding. No need to shout it from the rooftops… unlike some.

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Thanks, sounds like I should find a bottle and give it a try.

By the way, the 2014 bottling that DS gave 97 points to is the Smaragd.

Austere, robust and strongly equanimous (not natural) for wines that need time … according to recent discoveries :
Autriche Wachau - Steinrisler Nikolaihof 2007 (Riesling) : 16,5/20
Suit un autre vin austère. Notes retorses de citron, acidité marquée. Le grüner veltliner sera évoqué. Malgré un long élevage, l’expression du vin procrastine terriblement, encore plus que dans le cas du Furmint.

Wachau Nikolaihof Riesling Vinothek 2002 (16 ans d’élevage) : 16/20
Acide, assez simple, austère, balsamique. Pas facile d’identifier le cépage. Pensé au blanc de Château Simone. Un vin qui nécessite une gigantesque aération.

I’ve had mixed results with Nikolaihof. I love Austrian Riesling (ok to good with Gruner), but I’ve been frustrated with some of their wines over the years. I’ve stopped buying any, even when remarkably rated. Riesling is pretty bullet-proof and living in Canada usually keep us from having heat/ shipping issues from EU wines, but wonder if I’m drinking the same wines as were reviewed at the estate or elsewhere in Europe.
Maybe self-fulfilling at this point, but they don’t hit the mark for me as consistently as they should. '04 Steinriesler was a recent meh example for me.

I would rather keep “digerabilita” for German Rieslings like spätlese from Mosel … so sapid, yummy and easy to drink (despite their potential complexity and depth - magnums required, one bottle is never enough).

Your experience is the same as what most CT notes convey.

One thing that’s not clear to me is whether the variation that I find is in the bottle or the bottling. That is to say that they may just be a stylistically idiosyncratic house. But I’ve had high highs and low lows from year to year and cuvée to cuvee across all levels of their output. This is pretty different than what I’ve found from some of their neighbors like Alzinger and Knoll where you pretty much know exactly what you will get.

My experiences with Nikolaihof have been mixed, like Joe and Chris’.

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My experience with Nikolaihof is limited to some 10-ish bottles but in my books they’ve been very variable. When they’re good, they’re really good. However, quite many bottles have shown some kind of rather unpleasant, dull funk that I’ve described as a sort of combination of raw potato and damp wool socks. And it’s the same Nikolaihof funk, no matter if the wine is Riesling or Grüner Veltliner, so it doesn’t seem to come from the variety, but the winery. I’ve no idea where it comes from, but it has certainly helped me identify Nikolaihof wines more than once when tasting blind.

Not a fan of that funk, but when the wines are pure without that odd, dull character, they can really be stunning.

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Ok, I broke down (I’m on a buying freeze in general) and bought a few bottles of the 14 Vom Stein Riesling Smaragd to try out. Hopefully I get some of the good bottles!

[quote=“Laurent Gibet” post_id=3467224 time=1646237369 user_id=8188
Wachau Nikolaihof Riesling Vinothek 2002 (16 ans d’élevage) : 16/20
Acide, assez simple, austère, balsamique. Pas facile d’identifier le cépage. Pensé au blanc de Château Simone. Un vin qui nécessite une gigantesque aération.[/i]
[/quote]

You guys are truly hilarious… I mean, I’m not saying anything, I’m a part of that culture myself, willy-nilly, I know where you’re coming from, but… come on… “Pensé au blanc de Château Simone”… I mean… come on. Ridiculous. I know Chateau Simone Blanc as well as you do, probably better (not that I’m necessarily interested in expanding). Broaden your mind, Laurent. Try harder… [cheers.gif]

Hate to make that excuse for wines generally, but in this case, I really think it’s the source.

You mean the winery? :smiley:

The times I’ve had those funky bottles have been in a) a tasting even where a representative of Nikolaihof were pouring the wines themselves; b) a wine bought from our own monopoly, ie. wine ordered and delivered straight from the winery to the shop shelves. No questionable second-hand bottles here!

I don’t understand Tvrtko’s comment but am with Laurent on the 02 Vinothek.

I was poured a glass by the charming Christine Saahs during a delicious dinner at the family tavern a few years ago and there it sat, nearly full, on the table when I departed.

Still, I buy and enjoy their wines from time to time. Perhaps I should just let David select them for me.

Apparently [truce.gif]

You guys are truly hilarious… I mean, I’m not saying anything, I’m a part of that culture myself, willy-nilly, I know where you’re coming from, but… come on… “Pensé au blanc de Château Simone”… I mean… come on. Ridiculous. I know Chateau Simone Blanc as well as you do, probably better (not that I’m necessarily interested in expanding). Broaden your mind, Laurent. Try harder… [cheers.gif]
[/quote]


I will … Like some of my friends, I sometimes make a confusion (blind) between an alsacian balsamic riesling and a white balsamic Châteauneuf (grenache, clairette). I also saw that, in a selective wine tasting challenge, with a Châteauneuf producer, thinking that his own wine was a Riesling …

Sorry to be so approximative (and I did not photoshop my comment) [cheers.gif]