Smaragd, the most valuable category of white wines made from the ripest grapes on the best sites of the Wachau in austria. Alcohol levels in the unchaptalized Grüner Veltliners and Rieslings that qualify must be more than 12.5% and commonly range between 13 and 14.5%. The category is named after the green lizard that basks in the sun on the Wachau’s steep stone terraces above the River Danube. See also steinfeder and federspiel.
© Jancis Robinson and Oxford University Press 1994, 1999, 2006, 2015
