Nice one Richard. I thought the 2010 Farhlay was one of the best GGs of the vintage (that I have tasted).
I debated on putting Schonleber as I love Halenberg but sometimes it misses. 2011 was nothing special. Nor 2010. 2009 was great, 2008 very good, 2007 great and I loved the 2005. My personal favorite. But those last 5 vintages quality, for me, has been variable. I actually prefer Frühlingsplätzchen for it’s sleek, elegant mineral style. I find Halenberg can be that in 2009, 2007, but sometimes is a bigger GG than I like. Just personal preference.
Laible, I just started importing to California and I’m only getting some Plauerlain for me as they offered me so little. The Klingenberger I find is on par with the Plauerain on a qualitative level and in 2011 surpassed the GG. 2012 it’s a star as well. That bottling is so unique. I know Klingenberger is a synonym for Riesling down there but not sure how this wine is classified. It’s priced right below the GG. The wines are brilliant, clean, precise, delicate Rieslings that have true distinction. I’m lucky to have him. I’d love to taste older Plauerlain. 2008 was oldest and that needed time.
Lieser Helden is also a great wine when on. 2009 and 2011 were great while I did not like the 2010. I had heard it was acidified and it really messed up the wine I feel. Thomas Haag, in general has a real grip on dry wine in the Middle Mosel. His GG’s for that area are by far the best. Really small quantities. One of the hardest to get.
That’s a possibility down the road, but many of these are tough to get in any serious quantity and are all extremely small production wines.
They taste them every year, the reds too, in a big hall over 2 days in Wiesbdaen. I think I’ll go this year. It’s a brutal tasting. But you get a real sense of the vintage. Some wines taste different at the estates after as well. It’s comprehensive and the truly great wines stand out but many very good wines I think get lost in the shuffle.
I love Clemens in high acid vintages like 2010 and 2008 but lower or normal acid vintages I like them less.
just giving this a quick glance, I think the one thing that both experts and amateurs need to keep in mind is that the whole GG business is a relatively recent developmental process, even taking into account the groundwork laid by Charta and Erstes Gewächs in the Rheingau—whereas the trockene Auslesen from Koehler-Ruprecht, Künstler and Karthäuserhof, to quickly mention a couple of my favourites, had a couple decades to evolve. And should only add that I’d be extraordinarily surprised if anything that Helmut Dönnhoff released from 07 has come anywhere close to the end.
me too.
I had the '07 GG in question about a year ago, and it was still a baby.
Lyle - no love for Knebel after you arranged for us to taste there? They had phenomenal wines and didn’t bother with the self- proclaimed GG designation.
He said wines to try…that’s not very easy to come by. ANY of the other Keller GG’s can be found with a little digging. All are worth buying if you find them. Keller has fast become my favorite producer in Germany. I love the poise and balance in all their GG’s
2007 Donnhoff Hermannshohle GG was just transferrednfrom the glacial cellar to the fridge for consumption in the next few days. Will report back.
Great list Lyle!!
Here are a few names, I would add:
Kruger Rumpf, Nahe - watch George Rumpf.
Weingut Groebe, Rheinhessen - ecology and excellence.
Wagner Stempel - downgraded recently by Gault Millau without reason.
Clemens Busch, Mosel - Mosel guru.
Weingut Pawis - watch Bernhard Pawis in the former GDR.
Balthasar Ress - with new winemaker Dirk Wuertz (Germany’s top wineblogger)
Rainer Schnaitmann - up and coming in Wuerttemberg.
Nice Lyle. An amazing list of certainly all superlative examples. There are others that would have to be in the same realm of greatness, but I can’t disagree with any of the wines that I know from this list, just smile big in agreement and toast to them!
The wines from the list that I chose to work with:
-Wagner Stempel GGs (Hollberg is quite good as well)
-Zilliken (Diabas “GG” is also amazing)
-Schafer Frohlich What can you say…um, tastay uhmayzung for all 4 GGs.
-Rebholz, all of 'em
-Karthauserhof
-Lieser Juffer
I’d say it could be some fun to have someone host a GG tasting of 15-20 wines, although that can get ridiculous with too much in one sitting to be useful. Possibilities…
Jay this is a GG list. I love Knebel’s wines, but they do not qualify for this list.
He wrote “must try”. G-max isn’t easy to find but it can be done and it should be a must try for any lover of dry white wine, not just German GGs.
Thanks for the reminder about how dumb the German wine laws are.
James,
20 years of studying and drinkjng the wines, countless wine dinners and discussions with winemakers, and some (yes, less than I would like) in country visits give me way more than a typical consumer’s perspective. Oh, and I have no commercial interest to defend, nor a personal vendetta against someone who would be an enthusiastic customer if not for the relentless ridicule that you seem to find enjoyable.
thanks for the reminder about how an American with only a consumer’s experience of the wines and rather limited experience of the culture behind them is somehow qualified to comment on somewhat involved technical matters in a public forum…
Just opened that 2007 Donnhoff Hermannshohle GG and it’s singing. It has vibrant fruit, a subtle spice and great minerality. This wine is nowhere near the downslope.
So there’s no rush to pull my bottles from Horse Ridge. Nice.
Looking forward to checking into an '05 Hermannshohle some time soon.
Nope. No rush.
Thanks, David. That’s what I would expect from that wine, and I’ll confidently leave my 1 or 2 remaining bottles in storage, as well as remaining confident in my plans for aging more recent vintages of which I have a bit more quantity.
It’s probably pointless to comment on this, but here goes:
James, I don’t know what history there is between you and David, nor do I care, but from this outside view (I know neither of you except through our posts here), your repeated insults seem extremely rude, uncalled for, and petty. I think these threads would be more pleasant for most everyone except you if you would keep them to yourelf, or at the very least use the PM function. Frankly, even if David has severely wronged you in some way, your posts aimed at him only reflect negatively on your own persona. I can tell you have a lot of knowledge about and a deep understanding of German wine, and that you could have a lot to add to these threads if you would set aside the personal attacks and post instead about the topics at hand.