I’d like to expand my German Riesling experience, but outside of Keller, Prum, Dr. Loosen, and a couple others, I don’t recognize a lot of the names - and it seems there are a ton of them. For daily drinking I try and stay under $25, which I know can get some great bottles. I’d also like to expand upwards for cellaring purposes into the $50-75 range. I’m looking for some favorite producers, favorite values, and just in-general favorite bottles that the riesling fans might have to offer.
Lastly, if you have any preferred sources for learning more about the region it would be much appreciated!
I prefer the sweeter Rieslings most of the time and I really enjoy the wines from: Fritz Haag, Schloss Lieser, Markus Molitor, Donnhoff, Willi Schaefer, and Zilliken.
All good suggestions. Falkenstein, weiser-kunstler, Julian haart, Schloss lieser all in mosel-saar often come in under $25. In general spatlese and auslese (ie sweeter) will be more expensive than the kabinett or basic estate wines (dry or just off dry). Donnhoff makes both types of estate wines usually around $20, my favorite schafer-frohlich does as well. Both also make excellent kab/spat/auslese that will run a bit more but all are cellar-able. Riesling pricing is weird in the differential between kabinett, spatlese, and auslese…they are different wines but often from the same vineyard, and your choice of what to drink and cellar is more a matter of personal taste as they all have very different profiles and uses.
Generally, I mean just not dry (although, I like those too, I just don’t gravitate towards them as much). I primarily drink Kabinett to GKA (and like the higher pradikats a lot as well). My sweet spot (pun not intended but hard to avoid) is actually Auslese Goldkap with some bleu cheese or aged parmesan; however, I try to not drink it toooooo much due to the extra high sugar content. If I’m drinking Riesling with food, I try to match the pradikat and sweetness level of the Riesling with the boldness and spiciness of the food.
A lot, if not all, of the producers I mentioned make some great dry Rieslings as well.
for your cellaring wine, can always consider a Egon Muller Kabinett. Ive grabbed a couple in the last year in that price range. Probably won’t be possible for a whole lot longer.
also, Re: Richter, I opened a 2001 Auslese with some friends a few weeks ago, a half was like $20-30ish? it was really tasty
Personally, I find a good amount of Richter wines merely good, and not as great or consistent as the other producers I mentioned; however, I’m sure people will have varying opinions. They seem to be priced nicely though, so there’s not really harm in trying some for yourself.
The beauty of German wines is that you really don’t need to go up to $50 or $80 to get great wines that will taste great young and age fabulously. The more expensive German wines tend to be either bone dry (usually labeled GG) or extremely sweet.
In general, for table wines, look for wines labeled Kabinett or Spatlese (which will be a bit richer). My favorite producers include:
JJ Prum
Schloss Lieser
Zilliken
Reinhold Haart
von Schubert (Maximin Grunhauser) - esp. the Abtsberg section of Maximin Grunhaus
My guess is that you can get these wines for a good bit less than $50 a bottle, but if you ask a merchant will likely let you pay more for them.
If you want to pay more, try to find wines from these producers with more age on them - say from vintages like 2001 and 2005. Most recently, 2010 is a great vintage if you like lots of acidity (which I do) and 2015 is just a great vintage.
Frankly, your next step up is to drink German rieslings that have more age on them. You won’t find a better producer than these five, although there are others probably as good.
If you want a really dry wine that is special, try Trimbach’s Cuvee Frederic Emile from Alsace.
I think ultimately aged rieslings are what I want. I had a 1991 JB Becker that absolutely blew me away along with a 20 year old Auslese and 12 year old Spatlese the same night. It was probably my favorite tasting.
Are you referring to any one in particular? I had the Scharzhof which I thought was great. I only bought 2 bottles at $36 and 2 months later they jumped to $55… damn.
I’m certain that I’m less educated on German wines than other posters in this thread, but I think Eva Fricke’s wines deserve a shoutout. Rheingau reisling that is just fantastic. Wisperwind is just a rockstar wine for the price.
Not really what you’re looking for but, she makes a Vinho Verde style reisling called Verde that I’m thinking my be my Summer go-to if I can find enough!
he makes a “scharzhof QBa” which is typically in the 30-50 range and then a “scharzhofberger kabinett” that is more like 70-90. the grape sources are slightly different, typically the scharzhof is a little more accessible young. all of his bottlings have steadily increased in value recently.
ill have to keep a lookout for them. something cheaper than muller is always welcome
The #1 issue with German wines in this country right now is a revolution in how they are distributed in the US right now. Shake up in German wine distribution in this country - WINE TALK - WineBerserkers For an entire generation, most German wines have been imported through either Terry Theise or Rudi Wiest. As I understand it, Theise sold his company to Skurnik some time ago but continued to work there and be the face of the company. Now, he know longer works there. Rudi Wiest has gotten older and I am not his company exists anymore. New people are starting to import German wines and who imports what is changing. While there are still plenty of German wines around and it likely will be good to have the energy of a new generation of importers around (I remember when Terry Theise was a brand new importer shaking things up) but my sense is that right now there are some producers whose wines are harder to find than they were a couple of years ago. I expect this to be more temporary than permanent, but the current state of the world cannot be helping.
I can’t seem to get it for under $100 in my location. And my specialty shop has it for $150, but may be an earlier vintage, don’t recall. I’ll just keep an eye out for it…
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Most recently, 2010 is a great vintage if you like lots of acidity (which I do) and 2015 is just a great vintage.