July 23, 2021

What does the word Smaragd signify on a bottle of wine from the Wachau region of Austria?

A. The ripeness level of the wine

B. Smaragd is the word in dialect for “Wachau”

C. The vineyard classification of the wine, equivalent to a Premier Cru vineyard

D. Smaragd is the name of the medieval village where the first Riesling in the Wachau was made

The word smaragd (meaning “emerald”) signifies wines that are the most physiologically ripe, and are therefore considered the best. The wines must have a minimum of 12.5 percent alcohol; most are higher. Smaragd is also the name of a bright green lizard that suns itself in the vineyards of Lower Austria. The Wachau is one of Austria’s premier regions for riesling and grüner veltliner.

WineSpeed: Weekly Wine Intel From Karen MacNeil

“Perhaps the nearest I come to gluttony is with wine. As often as possible, when a really beautiful bottle is before me, I drink all of it I can, even when I know that I have had more than I want physically. That is gluttonous.
But I think to myself, when again will I have this taste upon my tongue? Where else in the world is there just such a wine as this, with just this bouquet, at just this heat, in just this crystal cup? And when again will I be alive to it as I am this very minute, sitting here on the green hillside above the sea, or here in this dim, murmuring, richly odorous restaurant, or here in this fisherman’s café on the wharf? More, more I think—all of it to the last exquisite drop, for there is no satiety for me, nor ever has been in such drinking.”

**—M.F.K. Fischer, An Alphabet for Gourmets, 1949.
Fisher lived in the Sonoma Valley for much of her life.**

What does the word Smaragd signify on a bottle of wine from the Wachau region of Austria?

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