After Martin’s initial impressions about top German Riesling producers duo Klaus Peter and Julia Keller , we were also invited to to taste their dry Rieslings and red wines . A real treat.
First 3 reds
2017 Dalsheim Burgel GG Spatburgunder trocken ( barrel ) : very aromatic , lacks minerality and freshness but is very elegant . Kirch red fruit . 91
2017 N.Florsh. Frauenberg GG Spatburgunder trocken ( barrel ) : beautiful nose of red roses , quite remarkable . Nice acidity , more freshness , 93
2016 Westhofen Morsten Felix GG Spatburgunder trocken : from 8hl/ha yields , Spicy , super fresh nose , very concentrated , deep and long , this could be mistaken for a top Burgundy , deceptively easy to drink , great wine 96+
then 7 dry Rieslings
2016 Westhofen Riesling Liebesnest : nice very present acidities , long , a lot of chalk 90
2017 Nierstein :flinty , no super concentration ut just very nice , I could drink this now 92
2017 Nierstein Hipping GG : much present acidities , very young and powerful , pure , leave this alone for at least 15 years 93+
2017 Nierstein Pettenthal GG ( auction wine ): funky nose , flint , very complex and aromatic , much more than just power alone , delicious , it doesn’t get better than this : 97
2017 Westhofen Morstein GG : grassy and salty , mineral and pure , extract , tastes surprisingly full bodied , from 70 year old vines , leave this alone for 20 years 96+
2017 Westhofen Abts E GG : this comes from a vineyard with most chalk content and it shows , like a top Chablis but more complex , power power , still very young , leave this alone for 20 years , 94-96
2017 Riesling G-Max : best dry Riesling in the world ? I think so . Salty and mineral , with enormous length , you can still taste this after 5 minutes. So complex and powerful at the same time . 98+
( the Keller’s do not want to reveal where this G-Max comes from . They said tourists would visit and steal grapes and even vines … it’s a limestone 1 ha vineyard with very old vines . Max is their son ( Felix the other one ).
Last but not least : 2015 Nierstein Pettenthal -GK : TBA . This Trockenbeerenauslese ( auction wine ) from half a bottle was totally stunning . TBA can be too rich and sweet for my taste but not this one . Very fresh , with marmalade , honey and orange peel . The smell becomes more complex after 10 minutes and has a distinct Rhubarb component . An amazing effort that may be alive 100 years from now .
What an impressive range of wines from Germany’s top wine estate ! Succession seems already to be in place . We finished with a 2007 Westhofer Kirchspiel Grauer Beerenauslese that son Felix Keller made when he was 9 years old !! He made 70 bottles without anybodies help . Pretty amazing wine .
Charlie, if you have a few, I suggest you try one to get a feel for his style. The oak presence (i.e. heavy hand) is not present in the current vintages from what I have had. I popped two 2015’s over last few months and were impressive- albeit I am going to let the rest sleep for a few years. The limestone elegance and chalky minerality shows. As you probably know, KP is a fan of great burgs and interned at Rousseau and I think he has it dialed in now.
So there are a range of Keller spatburgunders. The S is mainly younger vines from morstein. I bought this in ‘16 but haven’t opened one yet, although I wouldn’t expect to age them for too long and will likely drink mine within 10 years. Then there are the GGs - Burgel, Frauenberg and Morstein. The Morstein is an auction wine. I’ve never bought a bottle. I’ve bought the other two for the last 5 or 6 vintages. In general, I think of them both as Pinot noir that will go for the long haul. That being said, if you don’t have a good sense of these wines I’d suggest opening one on the early side. I don’t drink them to find something like burgundy and I don’t really think of them as particularly similar to burgundy. I drink them because I like spatburgunder. Give one a whirl to make sure it floats your boat.
Charlie, I’m not an expert in spatburgunders. Better examples do remind me of cru Beaujolais, a bit in that they are pretty “grapey” upon release. Certainly enjoyable, but I like to let them settle down a bit and gain some tension/complexity. I’ll be curious to see what you think of them. My first hunch is that most Spats might be a bit fruit-forward for you. Note: I’ve never had a Keller spat, so I may be totally off and they could be much more dry in style.
The first one is going to be ready soon , I think . The other 2 , I would wait a year or 10 just like the best premier cru’s in Burgundy .
They did not use new oak for these 3 wines. They used second year barrels from DRC .
In november 2017 I had a 2009 Keller “Bürgel” Spätburgunder and it has reached the perfect stage, BUT on the other hand there was no hurry to drink this Spätburgunder. It was a blind-tasting and everyone one the table was deeply impressed by its finesse, elegance and complexity.
BTW, at this night we also had a wonderful 2009 Fürst “Centgrafenberg” Spätburgunder and also no hurry to drink it.
In addition the Top Spätburgunder from the estate F. Becker…2008 Pinot Noir…still a baby. Next bottle in 10 years.
I’m curious what you (and others here) think about which other German dry Riesling producers are close to Keller in quality and style. Is the quality gap indeed as huge as the price gap implies? Very few of the GGs surpass $100 here in the US, while the G-Max is $1500-$2000 (if you can find it) and the other GGs are more like $400-$600 (ish). I can’t think of another region with such a huge price gap between a singular ‘leader’ and the rest of the market.
To answer your question Burgundy has these kind of price gaps. As to other quality producers…there are plenty. Muller-Cator, Leitz, Schafer-Frohlich, and so on all make great dry wines. There are many others that have also been mentioned in the past. I would say it’s harder to find a disappointing GG than it is to find a good one.
Rheinhessen estates like Wagner-Stempel, Wittmann, Gunderloch, Battenfeld-Spanier, Kühling-Gillot and Kai Schätzel make great Rieslings too.
My recommendation for you is the estate SEEHOF. The winemaker Florian Fauth made a terrific 2017 Kirchspiel, Morstein etc. for little money. Importer is https://www.vomboden.com
you must not pay the extra for Keller wines to experience great German Riesling. Keller is a very fine but now hyped producer and in the luxury category like some Bordeaux and Burgundy producers.
Terry Theise of Skurnik wines is a very experienced expert of German Riesling in the US. You will be able to find very fine German Rieslings in his portfolio and you won’t suffer any excitement.
Martin Zwick who posts here frequently about German Riesling organizes a Blind Tasting of the best Rieslings in Germany in every vintage. These are blind tastings and therefore reliable. While the one or the other Keller Riesling is in amongst the top 10 other wines are leaders of the list almost ever. And these are the ones where the value is because they are still reasonably priced.
I’ve had the pleasure of tasting in Germany and have a good feel for quite a few dry Riesling producers (some of my favorites are Schäfer-Fröhlich, Dönnhoff and Clemens Busch). Many more to sample of course!
I still find odd the price gap between Keller and the rest. Burgundy certainly has ultra-premium producers with bottlings in the $thousands (DRC, Leroy, Rousseau, Comte Liger-Belair, Vogue, Roumier, and a handful more). But more than just one, with lots of offerings in between these big numbers and the lower priced bottles. Market maturity?
“I still find odd the price gap between Keller and the rest.”
SORRY, but I have to correct some false or misleading narratives regarding the estate KELLER. The prices at the estate and with its main german dealer Pinard de Picard are quite fair, as there are meanwhile other german estates which are much more expensive. Its the grey/secondary market which creates the myth about high Keller prices.
For example you will get the von der Fels for 17-18 Euro at the estate or the dealer Pinard, which has GG quality. You will get the Kirchspiel GG for around 33 Euro. And the other GGs are also fair priced. Of course the auction wines are expensive, but auction wines are auction wines.
Regarding the grey/secondary market the winemaker KP Keller has no influence. For example shortly before Xmas a german Bordeaux dealer offered out of the blue 2017 Kirchspiel GG for 150 Euro. So you see these are the things which creates the myth about exaggerating Keller prices.
Bottom-line, there is no price gap between Keller and the rest, but rather a quality gap.
Unfortunately few people have access to the initial prices Keller demands at his cellar door – especially outside of Germany. Obviously quite a few people – if merchants, restaurants, individuals – take advantage of the hype. If you can get Kellers GG (Grosses Gewächs or Grands Crus) to a fair price, fine. If not, no problem. Other producers make first class Riesling as well. There is no shortage of very fine German Riesling. If dry or off dry. If you are living in the US I recommend the expertise of Terry Theise, Skurnik wines again. He has a wonderful portfolio of top German Rieslings.
Theise is fine, but, apart from Dönnhoff, his portfolio is missing the best producers from Germanys main Trocken areas: Nahe and Rheinhessen
So not so much a provider of usable substitutes
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