Traditionally-made Barolo and Rioja’s magical complexity and long life are due in part to extended aging in barrel. This imbues these red wines with their evocative perfume, surreal texture and an aging potential measured not in years, but in decades.

Counterparts in dry white wine are few, and they tend to be the well-kept secret of a much smaller group of enthusiasts. These insiders know that such cask-aged legends as Spain’s traditional Rioja Blanco gran reservas and France’s Château Chalon can be just as rivetingly multi-faceted and long-lived as their red brethren.

High on our list of such great “extended elévage” dry whites are the exceedingly rare Riesling Vinotheks from Austria’s Nikolaihof. These absolutely unique and extraordinary whites are endlessly nuanced, surreally textured and potentially immortal.

In fact, their singular character makes us rethink what is possible, not just for Austrian Riesling, but for all dry white wines.

And we are deighted to be able to offer the profound 1997 Vinothek at an incredible 3-pack price.

Arch-traditionalism
Owned by the Saahs family for more than a century, Nikolaihof is the perfectionist arch-traditionalist of the Wachau, Austria’s greatest wine region.

And winemaker Nikolaus Saahs makes Riesling Vinothek only when he feels it has the right stuff to develop magically through more than a decade and a half of aging in large, ancient oak barrels before bottling.

While such lengthy cask aging was once more common in the Wachau, today only Nikolaihof makes wine this way. And as Nikolaus Saahs is as stringent in his selection of fruit for this bottling as he is reverent of Wachau history, there have been only three releases of Riesling Vinothek thus far in the 25 years since he began this practice.

Noble Antecedents
But followers of Nikolaihof know that the uncommon and the unprecedented are part of the fabric of this hallowed estate—Austria’s most ancient—with a documented history dating back to 470 A.D.

Other “firsts” for Nikolaihof are that Vinothek’s source, the Im Weinegebirge vineyard, is the oldest named vineyard in Europe. And in 1971, Nikolaihof became the world’s first biodynamic wine estate, long before these methods became more widely practiced. But the switch was easy; Nikolaihof has always been farmed without chemicals.

Pressing is extremely gentle, using a four-century-old vertical press made from a massive elm tree and the native yeast fermentation uses little temperature control. Sulfur use is minimal and there is no fining or filtration. Cask aging lasts 17 years in Nikolaihof’s cold, dark 700-year-old cellar.

Centuries of history and experience have gone into making the Vinotheks among the great dry whites of the world. With only three vintages ever made, we’re privileged to be able to offer one of them. But quantities are very limited.

Please note: In common with other long barrel-aged wines, Nikolaihof Riesling Vinothek requires aeration to become fully expressive. Opening a bottle a day in advance is highly recommended.

Wines available from this offer:

Year	Description	Size	Notes	Avail/ Limit	Price
1997	1997 Nikolaihof Riesling Vinothek (Bottled 2014)		VM97 / WA99	3	$225.00	add
1997	1997 Nikolaihof Riesling Vinothek 3 L	3 L	VM97 / WA98	1	$995.00	add
1997	1997 Nikolaihof Riesling Vinothek (Bottled 2014) 1.5 L	1.5 L	VM97 / WA97	1	$475.00	add