An interesting growing category in German Riesling is off dry, halbtrocken or feinherb. To be honest, pre-global warming, many Kabinett fell in this sweetness range but now they taste
like the old Spatlesen.
Some of these wines are allowed to make themselves by the winemakers. Fermenting them to pure dry would require some assistance which some winemakers don’t like for stylistic or philosophical reasons.
Off dry wines have some residual sugar and go well with spicy foods and, of course, pork. The sweetness is low enough that it doesn’t overwhelm the palates of most consumers and incite the Wine Cooler comments. They also tend to be moderately priced, in the $25 range. But there are exceptional ones in the GG style category as well, although these are rare.
At any rate, without further ado, here are the top 10 in no particular order (according to Lyle Fass). Producers with a direct import relationship are starred out.
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Gunther Steinmetz - Stefan is a friend but enough people love his wines enough to prove I’m not being biased. The Geirslay Sur Lie is a Mosel classic and just and epic wine that is one of the top feinherb style wines out there, and the Juffer Kabinett feinherb is poured at almost every restaurant in NYC it seems. It is as delicate and focused a feinherb as one can find. There are numerous other GG style wines that are sometime feinherb and sometimes dry and Stefan is always adding new wines from old vines on steep slopes. An 11% Riesling from Stefan has to be experienced!
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Immich Batterieberg - Gernot Kollman is another friend of mine and his wines are some of the most exciting in the Mosel. From Enkirch, which is around 20 minutes north of Brauneberg where Stefan is, this is another estate where some years some wines are feinherb and some years some wines are Trocken. The Ellegrub is my favorite here and I think only in 1 or 2 vintages it was feinherb. The CAI also, which is the Kabinett, can be a feinherb and I think it is mostly. Personally all the wines are “dry-tasting” so it really does not matter what one one gets. They are all great. I call him the Roulot of Germany. The wines are that precise.
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Peter Lauer - Florian is a friend as well and I adore his wines. He has a complicated classification system but from what I remember 30-40% of the output here is feinherb or Trocken bis feinherb which is between Trocken and feinherb. Some of his feinherb can be up to 25-35 grams of sugar, so this category was necessary. These wines are wonderful with freshness, depth, salty vivid minerality and rich textures. These feinherbs, especially the drier wines, can pass as Trockens. Great wines.
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Van Volxem - With more great vineyards in the Saar than anyone, Niewo, as his friends call him because of his ridiculously long last name, is constantly pushing the envelope for quality in the Saar. He has a range of top notch vineyards that make wines that are all feinherb. The style here is boldly mineral wines that express terroir in a unique way. Vivaciously fruited but minerals always comes in first no matter what age and what vineyard, these are mineral ass wines. They sugar comes in at 14-16 grams and sometimes between 8-13 grams depending on year and site.
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Schafer-Frohlich - Tim Frohlich is on this list for one wine and it’s cheap. It’s his estate Halbtrocken. He is much more famous for his dry wines, sweet wines and nobly sweet wines. So you really think his Halbtrocken is gonna suck? It doesn’t. Perfect balance of mineral, citrus on a delicate frame. So juicy. Awesome every year.
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Clemens Busch - Clemens Busch makes a lot of wines as a tasting these is an afternoon. But some of his GG’s don’t ferment all the way through and as a result you have dramatic and baroque GG-style wines that are more feinherb in style than Trocken. But it depends on vintage, vineyard when you are getting a feinherb. But these wines need tons of air and they command the intellect of the drinker. They are as dramatic as any wines in Germany. It’s all about catching them at the right time.
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*********** - I adore the feinherb wines here that, depending on vintage and year, can come from Monteneubel, Zepwingert or the great Ellegrub. In the same village as Immich-Batterieberg, Enkirch, these magical and steep slopes seem made for feinherb. The style here is fresh and dynamic with laser-like precision and purity. Terrific wines.
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******** ********* - Martin actually makes more fruity-style and Trocken wines but his feinherbs are masterpieces of the highest degree. These wines from the steep slopes of Krov and Traben-Trarbach, have insane length, purity, texture and freshness and due to the high acidity in Martin’s wines, are really more dry-tasting feinherb than any noticeable residual sugar. Look out for the ones from the Trarbacher Huhnerberg, one of the greatest vineyards in Germany.
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Zilliken - Zilliken is famous for his nobly sweet wines and terrific sweet Spatlesen and Auslesen, but they make a feinherb wine called Diabas, which is all from the Saarburger Rausch, and is like a GG feinherb. It has insane precision and depth while being perfectly balanced. A must not miss.
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Knebel - Hailing from Winningen in the Lower Mosel, this is an astonishing producer who makes a feinherb that I adore from the Bruckstuck vineyard and the Hamm vineyard. Rich and balanced with terrific depth and purity. The warmer climate of the Lower Mosel comes through but there is still ample minerals and freshness. The winemaker, Mathias, is also a friend.
Honorable mentions - AJ Adam, Falkenstein, Karthauserhof, Weiser-Kunstler