Clearly less charming than my last bottle in june, after the release. On the other hand what a limestone punch, awesome. Clear, pure, racy and with a depth that it seems that the so-called „younger“ vines of the GG-sites, which are used for the vdF, are not such young anymore. In addition flavors of lemon sorbet.
On day 2 the minerality stepped aside a little bit and flavors of nectarines, blossoms and lemon zest emerge. No wonder, much more open and charming. Anyway, my next bottle in 5-10 years. And I have to organize a vdF-vertical in the coming years.
Note: If you prefer fruit then I would recommend to decant it. But if you prefer purity&minerality like me, then don’t decant.
I had a 2009 Riesling ‘Von der Fels’ last night - and it was gorgeous. Just starting to open up. More citrus & vanilla on the nose than petrol that follows through on the palate with a nice, silky presence.
Come on, Jürgen. 22 Euro chez Pinard de Picard and certainly a little bit cheaper directly at the estate. And don’t forget some people consider von der Fels quite close to a GG.
BTW, I am a regular buyer of Chianti by Isole e Olena and even a Chianti cost 24 Euro these days. You can hint that everything was cheaper in the old days, of course you can, BUT I consider such an argument not helpful.
In the US, retailers are charging about $43-$55/bottle. That’s a considerable amount less than the GG’s that I’ve been buying. Yes, there are GG’s in this price range…but I’m not sure that they are this good. To me, this is KPK making sure that even long-time buyers can still enjoy his wines. It’s the secondary & third markets that are jacking up the prices, and he has no control over that. Having said that…I’m still not sure I want to remember 2020. So that’s a vintage I’ve been actively avoiding buying.
I completely disagree. I think the current price is more than justified by the quality of the wine. It’s always easy to criticize when a wine no longer costs what it used to, or what we want it to, especially when it comes from a celebrated producer. But in this case I don’t think it’s at all fair to blame hype when the wine is spectacular by all measures and surpasses many, many more expensive GGs etc. If anything, I think it could still be underpriced.
I know many people think that Keller wines are in a league of their own. Entry level or high end. I disagree. It is ok if you or someone else has a different opinion. Don´t get me wrong btw. Keller is a very good producer as everybody knows.
I think you have to put the price increase in the U.S. in context. Egon Muller Kabinett is now $250! I just did a double take when I saw that Eva Fricke Krone is $150. Many other GGs have double.
It is still GG level wine that has a decent size production so for me it is a great value.
Just one additional, small data point:
Von der Fels 2020, bought at 30 EUR vs Schloss Lieser Niederberg Helden GG 2018, bought at below 35 EUR - Keller more on the citrus spectrum, but also lighter on the palate, bone dry, less length. Schloss Lieser more typical riesling nose, more body for my palate, a touch sweeter. Both around same alcohol (12.5%), but still a different style. Both good wines.
I guess it all depends at which price you can buy both, your palate and the setting (food, etc), but for the limited price difference, my vote goes to the Schloss Lieser. If you pay a different price, I am sure your point of view may well be different.
Late in this discussion but really as Martin stated this wine costs 22 eur (if you are quick enough to buy it) in PnP and still under 20 eur from cellar door. 2020 might be the best young VdF I have drank and even 29 eur which I had to pay (yep was not quick enough for PnP offer) for it I would never say it’s “too expensive for what it is” as I actually think it’s one of the best ortswein available and better than s*itload of erstes in price range 20 - 30 eur. Sure I would like to get VdF still under 15 eur but how much it should cost when “simple” everyday vdp estate wines are in 10 - 12 eur range these days? Also I would be very interested of your opinion of better dry rieslings under 20 eur from cellar door? At 18.90 eur I would buy trunk full of VdF year in year out it’s really low “for what it is” .
I know many people think that Keller wines are in a league of their own. Entry level or high end. I disagree. It is ok if you or someone else has a different opinion. Don´t get me wrong btw. Keller is a very good producer as everybody knows.
The beauty of VdF is that it is not “Entry level” nor “High end” it’s really good and dry ortswein level riesling which is still affordable enough to drink. Some might say that it’s close to GG and treat it as one but for me it’s always the benchmark of good ortswein.
But they are allocating then now, at least I was told that it was a lottery (I don’t buy that much from PdP) and I was allowed to buy 3 bottles rather than 6 that I wanted.
BTW, the estate Keller makes also an Ortswein called “Westhofener”. Fair to say you can’t buy it, just for long-time customers. A couple of years ago I made a blind-tasting with the best GGs of the vintage 2015, my BerlinRieslingCup. And this Ortswein 2015 Westhofener was served blind together with 47 of the best GGs of the vintage. At the end of the day Westhofener won.
Again, it was a blind-tasting.
P.S.
it comes from a little Parzelle/plot of the middle part of the MORSTEIN
.