As always, the pre-tasting of the Grosse Gewächse in Wiesbaden was impeccably arranged by VDP. During the three days there was a bit more than 460 wines available for tasting.
A year ago, I was quite concerned with the high acidity levels in the riesling GGs from 2021. But at ProWein in march, the acidities had mellowed quite a bit. Still, the acidities are on the higher side. The wines are by no means charmers, but express good minerality.
Germany experienced some heavy drought during the summer 2022 und the harvest was quite early. Surprisingly, the Riesling acidities tend to be rather high, but riper than in 2021. The wines are a bit lighter, but with finesse and charm in the fruit.
Concerning the tasting, the wines were generally quite closed and difficult to get a grip on. I believe the producers emphasize minerality more and more, which makes them rather restrained in the youth. But there are some really good wines to find among the GG’s. To complicate matters, there were both 2021’s and 2022’s in the presentation. Many producers tend to delay tasting and release with another year. The Riesling 2021 certainly benefited from that.
Starting with the Franconian silvaners, they are overall a good bunch of wines. The 2021 have good freshness, while the 2022 are a bit richer and with more charm. The best performers were Stein-Berg from Juliusspital, Stein-Harfe from Bürgerspital, Am Lumpen 1655 from Max Müller and also the same vineyard from Horst Sauer, all 2022 except the Stein-Berg. As could be suspected.
The rieslings from Franconia did preform slightly better, revealing lovely fruit and balance in the 2022´s. The best were to be found among the usual suspects, primarily from 2022. Am Lumpen 1655 from both Max Müller and Horst Sauer beeing stylish with fine minerality. In Würzburg all the big three produced very good Stein-Berg with minerality and freshness. Julius-Echter-Berg from Wirsching, Maustal from Zehnthof and Centgrafenberg from Fürst were also very good.
The wines from Nahe were primarily from 2022. Generally, they were closed, tight and demanding, which made them difficult to evaluate. Anyhow, the best came from the producers that normally perform well. All the wines from Schäfer-Fröhlich showed very well with Felseneck taking the lead, mineralic and stylish. The Halenberg from Emrich-Schönleber showed good promise for the future and Dönnhoffs Hermannshöhle plus Dellchen were also impressive. Gut Hermannsberg keeps the Kupfergrube and Hermannsberg for five years until release and labels them Reserve. I am normally not a great fan of the 2018 vintage when it comes to riesling, but these two wines were very good in a mineralic way with a slight herbal note.
The wines from Rheinhessen were dominated by the 2022 vintage and the quality was generally quite good with minerality and nice fruit. Gunderloch had a nice range, with Rothenberg perhaps having the edge. The same goes for Kühling-Gillot, where Rothenberg also was the top one. The wines from Wagner-Stempel were all very promising with Höllberg the most stylish. As expected, all the wines from Wittmann performed very well, with Morstein perhaps the most backward. Also among the best was Battenfeld-Spanier to be found with Am Schwarzen Herrgott receiving the best notes. And one mustn’t forget the wines from Groebe; both Aulerde and Kirchspiel showing very well.
The rieslings from 2021 in Pfalz were showing quite well with lots of minerality. But the tasting was dominated – both in volume and in quality – by the 2022 vintage, displaying more and better fruit. Most enjoyable wines, indeed. And generally, Pfalz did beat Nahe qualitywise – at this stage, which is unusual. But time will tell. Top producers turned out to be Mosbacher and Bassermann-Jordan, each one with a promising range of rieslings, both with Jesuitengarten as the leader. The wines from Philipp Kuhn normally preforms well, also in 2022, fine acidity and good fruit. The wines from Christmann performed slightly differently from each other. Meerspinne and particularly Idig were showing freshness and elegance. In the southern part of the district Rebholz did very well with his 2022; Im Sonnenschein being the best for the moment, but I guess it will be overtaken by Im Sonnenschein Ganz Horn in due time.
In Rheingau the wines on display came primarily from the 2021 vintage. The spread in quality is normally quite apparent, but in this vintage it was more consistent. Some of the better wines had Künstler as producer, with Weiss Erd being the most elegant for the moment. Hölle did although display great potential in a mineralic style. In the western part of the district, Leitz was the clear winner, with the elegant Berg Roseneck and the complex Berg Schlossberg. Of the 2022s, Spreitzer had two very stylish wines in Rosengarten and Sankt Nikolaus.
From Mosel there were primarily 2022s, were Saar seemed to be at the helm. The only one from Schloss Saarstein showed very well with minerality and good freshness. Van Volxem had a nice range with a mineralic and elegant Scharzhofberger Pergentsknopp as the leader (as expected). The wines from Mittelmosel were sadly on the light and lean side, while Untermosel wines were good, but atypical – Uhlen Laubach from Heymann-Löwenstein being the most stylish for the moment.
The best spätburgunders 2021 were certainly to be found in Ahr, with an even and high-quality level. The quality is a wonder considering the extreme flood during July. The wines from Meyer-Näkel were very elegant with particularly Kräuterberg and Pfarrwingert being at the top. Stodden was also performing well with Kräuterberg being the top number. As for the rest I found quite a few to be over-oaked.
In Rheingau, Künstlers Reichestal 2019 is worth mentioning. And in Franken Rudolf Fürst was the best performer with Centgrafenberg 2021 the most complex and promising. In Rheinhessen the general quality was fair, but nothing really stood out among the 2021´s. Pfalz put on show spätburgunders ranging from 2018 to 2021 with a fair and even quality. The Knipser wines from 2019 showed well with Kirschgarten being the best and balanced. Also, Kuhn´s Kirschgarten 2020 performed well, quite stylish. In the southern part of the district, Becker´s Sankt Paul and Heydenreich 2020 were attractive, particularly the former. Also, the 2019 Sonnenberg from Siegrist did well. Among the few wines from 2021, the Idig from Christmann was outstanding.
The spätburgunders from Baden were generally quite oaky, although less than earlier years. The 2021 vintage dominated and showed fairly high acidity levels. As could be expected, the best wines came from Bernhard Huber with Bienenberg the best for the moment. The wines from Franz Keller had an even and high-quality level, with perhaps Kirchberg and Schlossberg having the edge.
Please bear in mind that these notes are based on the tasting of very young wines and with age, they might develop in unexpected directions.
Vinarskallen 