Nikolaihof wine estate
Do you know the feeling of walking along old clay-tiled paths through vaulted cellars where the Romans once made wine? At Nikolaihof you can experience it. Mautern lies directly on the Danube, hemmed in on both sides by sometimes breathtakingly steep terraces where the very finest wine is grown under the most difficult conditions. Veltliner and Riesling dominate. With Veltliner in particular, you can sense more clearly than almost anywhere else just how much influence microclimate, soil and site can have on a wine.
Try one of the pleasant but simple, everyday Veltliners produced by the millions of litres in the Kamptal, just 20/30 kilometres away as the crow flies, and compare it with a Veltliner from the Wachau's steep slopes. They are worlds apart in wine terms, and the terroir debate pursued so passionately in France suddenly becomes very tangible.
Christine and Nikolaus Saahs run Nikolaihof as well as it could possibly be run. For many years, the vineyards have been tended gently using biodynamic methods. Stylish evenings featuring exquisite regional specialities regularly take place in the historic house, with Mrs Saahs preparing the dishes herself. Incidentally, she is the elder sister of Ilse Maier from Geyerhof. In the cellar, visitors stand in awe before the beautifully carved oak casks, which are everyday working equipment here, rather than folkloric decorations. The mighty beam press remained in use into the 80s. The exclusively white, top-quality wines rest in the underground vaults, offering living proof that gleaming stainless steel is no prerequisite for good white wine. If it were, it would certainly be found here too, for Nikolaus Saahs is absolutely uncompromising about his wines' quality. As mentioned, this begins in the vineyard and extends right through to small details important for high-class wines with ageing potential: corks, the glass's UV permeability (the bottles used were originally made specially for Mr Saahs) and the elegant presentation, which, like the winegrower himself, puts the grape variety firmly centre stage.
Nikolaihof wines have a concentration rarely encountered in white wines today. In good years, this can make them seem somewhat closed in their youth. The care with which the winegrower has matured these great wines should oblige us to show the same care. Just as he patiently awaited the right moment to harvest his precious grapes, we should allow the wine to mature in our own cellars until it reveals its full greatness.
+49 (0) 8362 9308800
