I see that wine at about 50% more per bottle than the von der fels. We are talking $60 vs $40. Notwithstanding that, I’d note that Egon’s QBA is not very good and Keller’s von der fels is. So I’d differentiate on the basis of both price and quality.
Alex
I’ve got friends from both the Pfalz and the Nahe while personally I am from Baden (Kopp representing my hometown), so hardly Mosel or Rheinhessen in my cellar…
Completely agree here. As much as I love the Scharzhofberger and Braune Kapp wines on the rare occasions I have then, the Scharzhof QbA is terribly overpriced. Even with both the RR and von der Fels going up in price over the last couple of years, Keller still has a number of superior wines that cost less than the Scharzhof QbA. Granted, I may be higher on their Limestone and Gruner Silvaner than some people.
On the other hand, the Muller-owned Chateau Bela is a very nice Riesling that sells in the mid-teens - I don’t see it very often, however.
At a past rieslingfeier, I remember tasting the 15 QbA, Bela, and whatever Australian project Muller is involved with. None were very good, although I know others disagreed regarding the QbA
Wasn’t a huge fan of the Aussie Riesling at the last Rieslingfeier I went to (2019) - there are quite a few from that continent that are notably superior - but I’ve had good luck with the Bela. That said, I can understand that it might not be up your alley. For me, it’s getting a lot harder to find a good $15 Riesling these days.
My impression at the Muller table has been that most people who go to the VIP session are disappointed when they find they only get to try one of the Scharzhofbergs. I imagine their table is a letdown for those who attend the latter sessions - they need to stop by the Muller table at the dinner then.
Konstantin Baum MW has done a video naming the top 5 wines, in his opinion. Some good info there. Tried to get my hand on the Dr. Bürklin-Wolf Riesling he gave 97pts to, but it’s a little over my budget right now (what happened to cheap Riesling ).
Bürklin-Wolf also does a really fantastic range of wines just below the GG level that are much more affordable. Also their Forst “village” level wine is a great value…and dry.
77% of my German holdings are Prum, slightly skewed by a huge purchase of 2019s.
There is some Donnhoff, Haag, Schaefer, a few bottles of a lot of miscellaneous producers and then a pretty large collection of wines from the seventies, some from known producers some who don’t exist any more.
Across all the German wine producers in my cellar:
J.J. Prüm - 13.4%
Willi Schaefer - 13.2%
Hofgut Falkenstein - 11.6%
Emrich-Schönleber - 10.5%
Von Schubert Maximin Grünhaus - 6.8%
Merkelbach - 4.5%
Julian Haart - 4.5%
J. J. Christoffel (2001 and earlier) - 3.9%
This probably isn’t 100% accurate %-wise since it really only includes the wines I’ve acquired since starting to use CT in 2010. My first purchases were when the 96 vintage came out. For example, I had already bought most of my HGS MC wines by then - my locker says I have about 43 bottles and I think I have another 15-20 in my apartment. My earlier purchases were mostly Prum and Schaefer and Catoir and Christoffel I think. Probably would be worth it to merge the inventories at some point.
Possibly the first Rieslings I bought on my own were the 95 JJC UW Auslese *** and the 95 MC Mussbacher Eselshaut Rieslaner Auslese - the 96’s were being released but Calvert Woodley was having a sale on back vintages. Was following Schildknecht (IWC) at the time to learn about the wines. That put them on my radar and I bought through 01 (02 for JJC). Then at some point It hit me that they weren’t coming back so I aggressively grabbed any wines from say 90-01.