Nikolaihof Steiner Riesling Hund Question

I

Ian Fitzsimmons

Ian Fitzsimmons
Are there two wines - the Riesling and the Reserve? Or just one, variously referred to in these two ways, depending on the speaker/writer?

In one listing, I see reference to the non-reserve Riesling terminating 2002; but a recent Skurnik catalog lists both wines separately. I also see different front labels on-line, alternately saying 'Riesling' and 'Reserve.'

So, just curious, if any of the wise Austria-heads reading here know the story on this distinguished producer and wine.

Keep on tippling.
 
Gee, I've never noticed myself. I always thought there was only one hund and its' name was Steiner. I have seen both listed on websites, however.
 
The non-reserve is certainly still alive, listed on their current ex-winery price list (from 2014). I would assume that they occasionally hold back a barrel for a few years and then sell it as reserve.
I can ask for more details when visiting in two weeks.
 
I can't find a price list on the Nikolaihoff site, or even a list of produced wines, which is odd.

The Skurnik list that comes up shows a reserve in 2010, but not in 2012 or 2013. Nothing at all for 2011.

But, say, Shildknecht's year-to-year notes reference the Reserve.

I wondered if it might be an importer thing, where one asks that 'Reserve' appear on the front label, and another prefers it on the back label.

Doing my research, the words 'The search function is your friend' wafted through the background, and I pulled up notes from some of the greats: Dressner, Dougherty (a Steiner Hund devotée), and Coad. 'Twas bittersweet.
 
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
I can't find a price list on the Nikolaihoff site, or even a list of produced wines, which is odd.
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You have to email them and ask for it (and say you want to buy in Europe, otherwise you will only get Skurnik's contacts). But the lineup is online, though only on the German version.
 
So, George, I don't see the word 'reserve' (or any related cognate) in their current list. This leads me to suspect they have just one bottling, which may be referred to as reserve, or not, depending on convention and personal inclination.

The 'virgin' harvest (Junfernlese) is an intriguing bit of nomenclature.
 
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
So, George, I don't see the word 'reserve' (or any related cognate) in their current list. This leads me to suspect they have just one bottling, which may be referred to as reserve, or not, depending on convention and personal inclination.
Click to expand...

Gee, sounds much like the Emidio Pepe saga.
 
My recollection is that for the Steiner Hund, as it is not in the Wachau, they use "Reserve" in lieu of "Smaragd," which is allowed only for wines of the Wachau.
 
Unclear is:

- Cellar Tracker entries for the Reserve end in 2002. Did people who post there stop buying the Reserve then, or are they just not hep? Or did Nikolaihof stop making it for a while?

- References elsewhere are erratic: George saw a reference to the Reserve in 2014; Skurnik in the 2014 or '15 catolog showed it in 2012. Does Nikolaihof just make the Reserve in certain years, per George's idea; say, when the grapes ripen more than usual?

- Several commercial sites quote Shildknecht's reviews of the Reserve next to their listing of the plain 'Riesling.' Chicanery or insouciance? Or are they really the same thing, after all?

I also checked Thiese's 2012 and 2015 Austrian catalogs: no mention of the Steiner Hund.

FWIW, the Nikolaihof "sortiment' page presently shows no SH Reserve wines (but perhaps they are sold out).
 
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
Unclear is:

- Cellar Tracker entries for the Reserve end in 2002. Did people who post there stop buying the Reserve then, or are they just not hep?
Click to expand...

What are you talking about? I have my bottles listed in CT - 2007, 2012 and 2013
 
Locale # Drinking Window(s):
Start, End, Source Scores:
2013 Nikolaihof Riesling Reserve Steiner Hund (Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau) Click to view 17 label images 69 set... CT80.5
2012 Nikolaihof Riesling Reserve Steiner Hund (Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau) Click to view 17 label images 250 2020-2035 CT92.6
2010 Nikolaihof Riesling Reserve Steiner Hund (Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau) Click to view 17 label images 216 2018-2035 CT91.5
2009 Nikolaihof Riesling Reserve Steiner Hund (Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau) Click to view 17 label images 152 2014-2030 CT91.1
2008 Nikolaihof Riesling Reserve Steiner Hund (Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau) Click to view 17 label images 70 2019-2035 TT, CT93
2007 Nikolaihof Riesling Reserve Steiner Hund (Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau) Click to view 17 label images 83 2012-2022 TT, CT93.4
2006 Nikolaihof Riesling Reserve Steiner Hund (Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau) Click to view 17 label images 63 2012-2023 CT91.4
2005 Nikolaihof Riesling Reserve Steiner Hund (Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau) Click to view 17 label images 54 2011-2026 WFW13.5, CT89.6
2004 Nikolaihof Riesling Reserve Steiner Hund (Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau) Click to view 17 label images 83 2014-2020 JG87, CT93.6
2003 Nikolaihof Riesling Reserve Steiner Hund (Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau) Click to view 17 label images 17 by 2037 SJ, CT94
TOTAL COLLECTION: 1,057 bottles in stock
 
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
Unclear is:

- Cellar Tracker entries for the Reserve end in 2002. Did people who post there stop buying the Reserve then, or are they just not hep? Or did Nikolaihof stop making it for a while?

- References elsewhere are erratic: George saw a reference to the Reserve in 2014; Skurnik in the 2014 or '15 catolog showed it in 2012. Does Nikolaihof just make the Reserve in certain years, per George's idea; say, when the grapes ripen more than usual?

- Several commercial sites quote Shildknecht's reviews of the Reserve next to their listing of the plain 'Riesling.' Chicanery or insouciance? Or are they really the same thing, after all?

I also checked Thiese's 2012 and 2015 Austrian catalogs: no mention of the Steiner Hund.

FWIW, the Nikolaihof "sortiment' page presently shows no SH Reserve wines (but perhaps they are sold out).
Click to expand...

I think this excerpt from Terry's 2014 catalog is interesting for the quick notes:

steinerhundoffering.png
I've always seen the wine offered as "Reserve" but I would slightly disagree with Kirk about their reserve being in any way equivalent to smaragd. The site, along with Nikolaihof's methods, always produces a wine that is unlike any other in the region; generally it is lower in alcohol than most smaragds. The only other - in the Wachau proper - that is always different is Prager's Wachstum Bodenstein. I've tasted with Nikolaihof starting in the late 80s, and have tasted many older wines, too, but I'm not terribly concerned with the label designation. Of all estates, Nikolaihof could never be accused of chicanery.
 
You are right, as usual, Maureen; I remembered it backwards. 'Reserve' appears exclusively from 2003 to the present; it's the Steiner Hund without 'reserve' that appears only up to 2002. I'm recovering from a concussion, if that gets me off the hook.

However, then, the intermittent appearance of the word 'reserve' in the Skurnik and Nikolaihof lists is still a curiosity. The CT front labels for the SH come in a variety of versions, some with Riesling on the front, some with Reserve on the front. At least one with Reserve on the back, at least one with neither on the front.

What mark e writes is consistent with the general impression one gets of the Nikolaihof reputation from reading around. So I bet any confusion here is just a happenstance of, say, importer label preference. The ABV appears to be consistently at about 12.5%, in any event, which could be either Smaragd or Federspiel, I believe (not an Austria specialist).
 
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
You are right, as usual, Maureen; I remembered it backwards. 'Reserve' appears exclusively from 2003 to the present; it's the Steiner Hund without 'reserve' that appears only up to 2002. I'm recovering from a concussion, if that gets me off the hook.

However, then, the intermittent appearance of the word 'reserve' in the Skurnik and Nikolaihof lists is still a curiosity. The CT front labels for the SH come in a variety of versions, some with Riesling on the front, some with Reserve on the front. At least one with Reserve on the back, at least one with neither on the front.

What mark e writes is consistent with the general impression one gets of the Nikolaihof reputation from reading around. So I bet any confusion here is just a happenstance of, say, importer label preference. The ABV appears to be consistently at about 12.5%, in any event, which could be either Smaragd or Federspiel, I believe (not an Austria specialist).
Click to expand...

as said before, if you wait just 2 more weeks I can give you the full details right from the source.
 
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