The Salomon-Undhof estate dates to 1792, and is currently on its 7th and 8th generation winemakers, father and son Bert and Bert Salomon. Their terraced vines overlooking the Danube have long been an excellent source, with the country’s preeminent wine guide calling them a “figurehead of Austrian wine history.”
Austria is best known for its Grüner-Veltliner, but Salomon also produces some terrific Riesling. This is bone dry, made from 30-50 year old vines — concentrated and intense, and with extraordinary complexity. It may cause you to rethink what’s possible from this much-maligned grape.
The just-arrived 2019 Ried Kögl Riesling is simply magnificent. It offers gorgeous dry fruit rippling with tension and minerals. The mouth is long and tense with concentrated fruit and loads of beautifully textured dry extract. The finish is dry, compact, and pulsing with energy.
Jancis Robinson found it “really well chiseled” and “particularly precise,” concluding: “classic dry Riesling with real vibrancy.” Robert Parker’s reviewer was similarly enthusiastic, awarding 93 points and finding it “clear, precise, and elegant.” He writes “this is a rich, salty-refined and very stimulating Riesling with perfectly ripe fruit and lingering salinity,” before concluding simply, “Excellent.”
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Salomon-Undhof Riesling Kögl 2019
bottle price: $28
