On August 27 and 28 in Wiesbaden, the VDP held their annual introduction of the most recent vintage of Grosses Gewachs wines, 2011 for white and 2010 reds, before they are permitted to be sold on September 1. This is an invitation-only event for the trade and press, not open to the public; in fact, producers are also not permitted to attend. About 100-120 persons attended. I was able to attend thanks to the invitation by the well-known American importer of German wines, Rudi Wiest.
The tasting itself was one of the best organized I have ever attended, and was accordingly one of the most conducive to giving the wines the kind of serious attention they deserved. Only time was a constraint, as nearly 400 wines were available to taste over the two day tasting. Attendees sat at tables with plenty of elbow room for the glasses, spittoon, room for a laptop, note taking, etc. A basket of rolls and bottled water was furnished. A pad of paper was provided to write down your seat number, and the flight number you wanted to taste. A runner would collect your paper, and reappear a few minutes later with a 6-bottle carrier with the wines, which were poured from bottle at your seat. All wines served at the proper (cool, but not too cold) temperature. Good stemware, about a 1oz. pour, perfectly adequate. Finish a flight and call for another. No long delays, I suppose it would have been possible for someone moving quickly to get through all 66 flights (mostly 6 wines per flight) over the two days of the tasting. I left a bit early on the second day, and was happy to have made through 51 flights.
I decided to focus on the Rieslings the first day, after beginning with a couple of flights of Silvaner to warm up. The second day I ran through as many of the Spat- Weiss-, and Grau-burgunder wines as time permitted, plus a flight of Lemberger to cap off the day.
The overall quality level was very high. There were very few poor or flawed wines, and a relatively low proportion of wines I’d consider below average (mostly due to insufficient balancing acidity). Most of the “average” wines were delicious and would be perfectly enjoyable with a meal, and they could even be worth buying if not too expensive (say, under $40). I found many excellent wines, and more than a few that were flat-out brilliant. I’ll highlight these in the notes that follow.
One thing to note is that the wines were grouped in flights by terroir/vineyard; e.g. all the Forster Pechsteins from every producer were in one flight, rather than grouping the wines by producer. This meant that it was rare for various wines from one producer to be grouped in the same flight, except where a flight included more than one vineyard (e.g., both Halenberg and Fruhlingsplatzchen were in the same flight, so both Emrich-Schonlebers from those sites were in the same flight).
Silvaner (2 out 3 flights tasted)
All from Franken. I’m still getting my head around the character of Silvaner, but I found a lot to like in many of these wines. The two wines from Wirsching were both excellent, with the Kronsberg being the most open, rich and long today, with piercing citrus and apple-skin and an intense nose. The Julius-Echter-Berg was more reticent, with great complexity, but seemingly leaner today; this might prove superior to the Kronsberg with time, but right now I liked the Kronsberg better. A Juilus-Echter-Berg from Juliusspital Wurzburg was also excellent, softer and more open than the Wirsching right now, with a nice sage note. Their Wurzburg Stein was also quite good, with a distinctly smokey note and orange spice, a bit flat in the finish. By contrast, a Wurzburg Stein from Burgerspital zum Hl. Geist was very peachy but full of energy and acid grip, delicious. Other good wines came from Furst Lowenstein (Homburg Kallmuth), and the state domain, Staatlicher Hofkeller Wurzburg (Wurzburg Stein, and Wurzburg Innere Leiste).
Riesling
These were divided by region:
Mosel (6 out of 6 flights tasted)
Not the first region one thinks of for GG dry wines, there were plenty of excellent wines here, and some not-so-good. Standouts: Zilliken, with only one wine from Saarburger Rausch, but with excellent fruit, brilliant pinpoint acidity, a mélange of fruit and great transparency. Karthauserhof’s Eitelsbach Karthauserhofberg possesses great intensity, electric energy, a bit lighter in body and a very slight sensation of sweetness that’s very attractive. Grans-Fassian, a producer I was not familiar with, had 3 excellent wines: both Laurentiuslay and Apotheke full of stone fruit flavors, sweet sensation and fairly rich yet balanced, with their Hofberg was sweeter tasting, almost feinherb in style, but intense and juicy, full of fruit, a lusher style of GG. The Fritz Haag wines were very fine although not really a standout among the Mosels. I thought the Juffer had more freshness and energy than the Juffer-Sonnenuhr, good intensity and depth, adequate if not great acidity. A bit more minerality on the Juff-Sonn, but also some earthy notes. Thomas Haag’s wines at Schloss Lieser were also very good, in fact a bit better, but both showed that sponti nose that is either bothersome, or not. Once past it, I thought the Niederberg Helden had a very slight edge on the Juff-Sonn, both with great energy/excellent acidity (a bit better on the Helden), good minerality and an electric fruit quality. Finally, perhaps the best Mosel GGs was the Wegeler Bernkaskel Doctor, vibrant with excellent acid balance, powerful, rich and seamless, very long. These were the top Mosel wines for me. A Doctor from von Kesselstatt was good too, more exotic in style with an almost creamy quality and a note of earthiness, but no match for the Wegeler. The other von Kesselstatt wines were no better than decent.
Other good showings: Dr. Loosen showed five wines, my favorite being the Erden Treppchen for its seamless quality and great fruit intensity. The Wurzgarten was leaner in style, while the Pralat was more opulent but with a creamy/confected note with hints of botrytis that I didn’t like; Sonnenuhr a tad sweet with good fruit and a rather dull finish; while the Himmelreich was lower in acid, and soft, decent but no better than that. S.A. Prum was all over the map, with both Bernkastel Lay and Graacher Domprobst, showing good energy and richness, well balanced, but Sonnenuhr Lay a bit too earthy, and Sonnenuhr Langenberg quite dirty and unpleasant.
Disappointments in the Mosel were both von Othegraven and Clemens Busch (3 wines each), whose collections were heavy-handed and lacking in balancing acidity. The von Othegraven’s were particularly poor, showing dirty and ignoble rot. The sole St. Urbans-Hof, Leiwen Laurentiuslay, was sweet showing obvious sugar and some unclean esters with a bitter finish.
One wine from Saale-Unstrut, and a flight of 5 Mittelrhein wines was available, but I didn’t taste them.
Rheingau (5 out of 7 flights tasted)
I didn’t find any real standouts among the Rheingau wines I tasted, although there were certainly plenty of very fine wines. Kunstler’s three wines were , very good, the Berg Rottland classically styled with a nice balance of fruit (pomelo, apricot) and acid, a note of petrol in the background; Kirchenstuck quite savory and rich, extracted but not overdone; and Holle perhaps the best of all, very intense with stone fruit and baking spice, very classy. Robert Weil’s Kiedrich Grafenberg was also quite rich with good minerality and a saline note. The Berg Schlossberg from Kesseler was vibrant with complex fruits, both apple and stone fruit, flinty and long, while Wegeler’s wine from the same vineyard was more peachy with an extracted texture I found attractive. Schloss Schonborn had 3 wines that I tasted (and one I didn’t), the best being the Marcobrunn, very intense with an umami and flint quality, and the Hochheim Domdechaney, a bit sweeter and more peach/pomelo in character with savory/soy notes; the Berg Schlossberg was simpler but mouthwatering and lemony with flint. I also liked the Kapellenberg from von Kanitz, a bit sweeter than most and very fruit-driven, with decent balance, while his Pfaffenwies was softer and less interesting. Mediocre or poor wines from Toni Jost, Ress, and Fendel.
Nahe (4 out of 5 flights tasted)
Based on this tasting, the Nahe was very successful in 2011, as this was one of the most consistently fine groupings in the tasting. Of course the Nahe is also loaded with top-quality producers. The flight I missed was three wines from Kruger-Rumpf, unfortunately. The top wines came from Shafer-Frohlich and Emrich-Schonleber. The Halenberg’s from both producers were my overall favorites and among the finest wines in the entire tasting. Both very intense, minerally/flinty and impeccably balanced, complex fruit and savory flavors interplay beautifully, great length. The S-F has that sponti nose (typical of this producer) but that doesn’t detract from the quality of the wine. Hard to choose between these two! The E-S Fruhlingsplatzchen was a bit richer and fruitier, but with less minerality, sensuously fruity with a hint of alcohol showing. The other S-F’s (Felseneck and Felsenberg) were also excellent and quite similar today (but not tasted next to each other in the same flight), minerally with some flint and lemongrass, amazing intensity/cut and great length. Donnhoff showed very well as expected, with the Hermannshohle rich, with great purity of fruit and depth, just a hint of flint and endless length. His Norheim Dellchen was just a half-step behind, more elegant than rich, but also with great purity. Four wines from Diel, I liked the Burgberg and Schlossberg best for their firmer structures with the Burgberg a bit richer to the Schlossberg’s greater elegance. Diel’s Pittermannchen and Goldloch, were a bit behind, more straightforward, with the Goldloch a bit sweeter. Dr. Crusius had three wines, best being Felsenberg with riper fruit flavors and a sensation of sweetness but also with a sinewy texture I enjoyed, and Rotenfels, even a bit sweeter tasting but juicy with an immediate deliciousness; Bastei was intense and with good acid, just a bit less complex. Among the underachievers in Nahe were two producer I had never heard of, Prinz Salm and Gut Hermannsberg.
Rheinhessen (4 out of 5 flights tasted)
Rheinhessen also did very well in 2011, but of course this region is known for its dry Rieslings, and it’s also home to a couple of very famous producers. The region’s superstars, Keller and Wittman, produced some superb wines, as did rising star Wagner-Stempel. The two GG’s shown by Keller, Hubacker and Kirchspiel, were both brilliant (sadly, no Absterde, Morstein, or G-Max at the tasting). Hard to choose between them (again, not shown in the same flights), each combines amazing intensity, depth and brilliantly defined structures with an effortlessness and elegance that’s remarkable. Strong minerality and complex fruits, these are outstanding wines in every respect. Of the Wittman’s, I thought the Morstein was the best and closest to Keller in quality. Seemingly a bit bigger and more brooding, but very rich, round with complex fruits and a muted minerality. Wittman’s Kirchspiel was a bit richer than Keller’s, but also softer, still intense and powerful with flint and baking spices, quite long. Aulerde was more savory, with soy/umami notes dominating the fruit, while Brunnenhauschen had notes of green herbs and strong minerality, a bit shorter in the finish. Wagner-Stempel’s two wines were both excellent as well, with Heerkretz showing bright fruit and Asian spices and minerality, fairly rich/ripe with adequate acidity, while the Hollberg had even more fruit intensity, with savory/umami notes and a similar structure. A bit more acidity would put these at the level of Keller/Wittman, IMO. Three Battenfield-Spanier wines were good if not great, with Frauenberg the best for its firmer acidity and more serious, minerally aspect compared to the Zellerweg and Kirchenstuck. Gunderloch’s Pettenthal was quite peachy and crisp, just a hint of green herbs and nicely balanced while the Rothenberg was more herby/leafy with a finish that falls off a bit. Two wines from Groebe were also quite good. The flight not tasted mainly consisted of wines from St. Anthony, but I did taste that producer’s Pettenthal, which I found overdone with notes of caramel.
Pfalz (8 out of 9 flights tasted)
The largest grouping of the Rieslings, the Pfalz produced a lot of good to very good wines, occasionally excellent, and in one case unique and controversial. Rebholz was particularly successful, all three wines excellent, with the Kastanienbusch outstanding, a bit more complex and intense than the also excellent Im Sonnenschein and Ganz Horn. Also from Kastanienbusch, I was impressed with two wines from Dr. Wehrheim, a bit bigger and heavier than Rebholz, not quite as fine but very good in a denser, meatier style. Dr. Burklin-Wolf showed 5 wines, all very good to excellent. My favorites were the Kalkofen and the Hohenmorgen, the former for its piercing minerality, the latter for an interesting spice note and richness. B-W’s Pechstein, Kirchenstuck and Gaisbohl were also very good (in my order of preference). Basserman-Jordan was very strong across the board (5 wines, all excellent). All shown in different flights so hard to compare to each other, but each was beautifully balanced with good minerality, fruit, and length. Rather the same with von Buhl, although a bit bigger, softer, and fleshier, less elegant; Pechstein and Kirchenstuck stood out above Jesuitengarten and Reiterpfad. Mosbacher was also strong with 3 wines, Pechstein very fruity, Ungeheuer more minerally and saline, and Kieselberg with piercing lemon intensity with minerals/saline. A single wine from Bergdolt-St. Lamprecht, Reiterpfad, was excellent with rich and exotic fruit, piercing minerality, tangerine. Good if not exceptional wines also came from Pfeffingen, Christmann, Messmer (sauvignon-like), and Becker.
The controversial “odd man out” was von Winning, whose wines deserve a few additional comments. These wines have a toasty/savory component from exposure to new oak barrels. Terry Thiese writes that the wines are not aged in barriques, but in new large oak casks which von Winning did not steam to reduce their new oak character. I’ve also heard that at least some of vonWinning’s wines are put though malolactic fermentation, although I must say that the quality and character of the acids on the wines I tasted did not suggest any ML had been employed. As a result of their elevage in new oak casks, these are very untraditional Rieslings, quite different from those of any other producers. I could see how some might not care for their style, but I found the wines to be brilliant. With the exception of the Ruppertsberg Spiess (strongly dominated by a sponti nose), I found the von Winnings to be rich, savory, with crisp acids, intense and deep, with great length. The toasty/oak character was quite apparent, but to me it integrated well with the savory/umami flavors and minerality of the wines. It would be interesting to follow these wines to see if the oak becomes more dominant, or integrates further; based on the depth, extract, and overall balance of the wines, I am optimistic the wines will improve. In any event, I find them delicious and fascinating now. I would imagine that a lover of Cote d’Or White Burgundies would find these quite appealing, an “entry drug” to the world of GG Rieslings. Among the various vineyards, the Pechstein and Kirchenstuck were the most intense and complete wines, although the Kalkofen and Langenmorgen were not far behind. While I wouldn’t want all or even most of Germany’s producers of GG’s to adopt this style, I think von Winning’s wines are very well made and his approach is a most worthy addition to the world of GGs.
Franken (2 out of 3 flights tasted)
My experience with Rieslings from Franken is limited, but I found some very nice wines here. Best was the Escherndorf Lump from Michael Frohlich; very rich and intense fruit, lemon curd, tangerine, hint of apple and flint, very good acidity and energy, powerful. Both Wirsching wines were excellent. As with the Silvaners I found the Kronsberg more immediately appealing, rich and intense, powerful but not heavy-handed, while the Julius-Echter-Berg was more restrained and elegant, with an interesting note of verbenia and grass accenting the lemony fruit. This should improve and perhaps exceed the Kronsberg with time. Good wines also from Rudolph Furst (savory and excellent minerality), Hofler (bright lemon zest and flint) and Sauer (also Lump, just a notch below Frohlich’s). Solid but not exceptional wines from Zur Schwane and Furst Lowenstein.
Baden (1 out of 1 flight tasted)
Only 6 wines, decent enough if not exciting. Best was the Goldenes Loch from Schloss Neuweier, quite rich and extracted with a nice tangerine and savory element, and a Zell-Weierbach Neugesetz from Franckenstein. Dr. Heger’s Ihringen Winklerberg was also nice, if a bit lighter, elegant and pretty.
There were 3 flights of Rieslings from Wurttemberg, but I didn’t taste them.
Mosel Non-GG Ertes Lagen (2 out of 2 flights tasted)
Two flights were available of wines that did not qualify as GG because their sugar “exceeded the legally defined maximum for “dry” wines” (9g/l). I tasted these at the end of the day, and these feinherb-style wines made for a refreshing change of pace. There were five wines each from Vom Volxem and Heyman-L owenstein, all of high quality. Of the Von Volxem, I preferred the Gottesfuss for its slighter firmer acidity and mineral character, almost Kabinett-level sweetness but very well balanced; followed by Scharzhofberger, the Goldberg, and Volz in that order, with Altenberg my least favorite for a sour, overripe note. These are all very pure, crystalline in character with real depth. The Heyman-Lowenstein’s were also very good, some sponti scents on a few, but well balanced and rich, with lower acidity than Von Volxem giving them a richer mouthfeel. I liked the Stolzenberg best, very pure and seamless, followed by the Uhlen “Blaufusser Lay”, then the Rottgenn and Kirschberg, with the Uhlen “Laubach” the simplest and softest. Best of all, however, was the Zilliken Rausch, with brilliant acidity, complex fruit flavors with tremendous energy and precision, penetrating and long. All of these were superior to the Wntrich Ohligsberg from Rheinhold Haart, seemingly too soft and a bit overripe and simple and the Clemens Busch Marienburg “Falkenlay”, very soft, flabby and heavy-handed.
That was it for the Rieslings, a good days work. Spat-, Weiss-, and Grau-burgunder to follow, and a flight of Lemberger.