Hi,
Looking for everyones opinions on the 2012 vintage. Anybody had a chance to taste the wines of Leitz, AJ Adam, Wagner Stempel, Donnhoff, etc.?
I haven’t tasted any. Have bought Donnhoff and Adam from your list. Also have J Haart and Weiser-Kunstler as for sures.
Good vintage with more cut and ageability than 2011. Good for Kabs and Spats, very little botrytis. I thought even the lower end dry wines were more attractive than usual, too. Buy with confidence.
There’s no reason to doubt the ageability of the 2011s. Just sayin.
Tasted at Donnhoff, Christmann, Wittmann, Georg Breuer, Heymann-Lowenstein and Dr Loosen a couple of month’s back. The 2012’s right across the board are stunning.
I have had a couple of the lower level Leitz and they were really nice. They have good balance not as sweet as 2011 and not as much acidity as 2010.
Go to:
I tasted at Weil, Donnhoff, Emrich Schoenleber, Gut Hermannsberg, Karthauserhof, and Steinmetz. 2012s are very balanced, harmonious wines- when I tasted alongside 2011s, the 2011s were a touch fatter; stylistically I prefer 2012s. A post about my visit to Weil is up on my blog now; I’m hoping to post about Donnhoff this weekend. If you post specifics about bottlings you’re interested in I can try to give you my take; knowing your style preference would help too.
My Dönnhoff notes here Jonathan Hanging with Helmut - WINE TALK - WineBerserkers
Cheers
Jeremy
Wow, thanks everybody! Looks like I have some reading to do!
Love the enthusiasm on this board.
So I’m fairly new to Grosses Gewachs. What is the aging potential of it? Are they wines that require more bottle age or something you want to enjoy younger? 5yrs? 10yr?
I had the 2011 and 2012 von Schubert wines together a few weeks ago. Both really outstanding. The 2011s were probably a bit richer. Also, while I have often found 2011s I have had to be a bit on the flabby side, I thought the 2011 and 2012 wines from von Schubert both had excellent acidity. I highly recommend the wines from both vintages and am not really sure in this case which I preferred.
Impossible to generalize about the category.
I enjoy the ones that I buy (mostly Donnhoff, with a smattering of others) eaither very early on (first year or two) or with 5+ years of age. That being said, some other folks think the Donnhoff wines have not fared well with cellar time. I disagree, but to each his own.
I’ve tried all the 2012s from Wagner-Stempel that have reached Norway yet, and they are very good. The entry level wine, Wagner-Stempel Gutswein is quite amazing for a wine at that price. They will all age well.
I have tasted the dry wines of Kuenstler, Weil and Christmann at the lower end of the quality spectrum - Estate wines and Village wines - recently and found them quite attractive. The 2012 Grosses Gewaechs wines will be released on September 1 and I will taste all of them at the VDP pre-realease tasting in Wiesbaden later this month. Anybody else going to the event?
When I read what the German wine blogger and facebook scene has to say, then 2012 will be a vintage that has produced a large number of good wines at the Ortswein (village) level, whereas it is more difficult find top exceptional Grosse Lage Trocken (Grosses Gewaechs) wines. Thus, at the top quality levels (Grosse Lage and Erste Lage), the air will be very thin in 2012. Below that, you will find many good wines. Dirk Wuertz, the wine maker of Balthasar Ress, who has already tasted all the Rheingau Grosse Lage Trocken (Grosses Gewaechs) wines, recommends to keep an eye on the Rheingau this year.
Nice on the Steinmetz… one of my favorites. A for sure buy for me as well!
Three word review of the vintage:
Sweet Acidic Riesling’s
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