Germany: 2017 Grosse Gewächse, Top Dry Whites and Reds

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1 Germany: 2017 Grosse Gewächse, Top Dry Whites and Reds 2017 is a superb year for dry whites. A mixed growing season culminated in an early harvest, producing elegant, attractive wines, with lovely zing and excellent balance. They are less powerful and less alcoholic than some earlier vintages, and they have excellent potential for ageing was an excellent year for red wines A hot summer and a cool, dry autumn resulted in wines that are ripe and fine, with bright fruit and supple tannins. They are an excellent counterfoil to the powerful 2015s, and will keep extremely well. Both red and white wines continue to offer excellent value. Erdener Treppchen

2 Prices are in bond London. Unless otherwise marked, wines are packed: 6-Bottle Cases (750ml) 12-Bottle Cases (375ml) 3-Bottle Cases (1500ml) Wines are offered by the case only. The prices of this offer are valid until 10 th October

3 Contents BADEN Holger Koch Bickensohl/Kaiserstuhl (Baden) 3-4. Shelter Kenzingen/Breisgau (Baden) 5-6 Ziereisen Efringen-Kirchen/Markgräferland (Baden) 7-8 FRANKEN Rudolf May Retzstadt 9-10 MOSEL Fritz Haag Brauneberg (Middle Mosel) 11 Julian Haart Piesport (Middle Mosel) 12 Reinhold Haart Piesport (Middle Mosel) 13 von Hövel Konz (Saar) Peter Lauer Ayl (Saar) Schloss Lieser Lieser (Middle Mosel) von Schubert Mertesdorf (Ruwer) 19 Daniel Vollenweider Traben-Trarbach (Middle Mosel) Weiser-Künstler Traben-Trarbach (Middle Mosel) 22 NAHE Hermann Dönnhoff Oberhausen Schäfer-Fröhlich Bockenau RHEINGAU Robert Weil Kiedrich 26 RHEINHESSEN Battenfeld-Spanier Hohen-Sülzen/Kühling-Gillot Bodenheim Keller Flörsheim-Dalsheim Knewitz Appenheim 30 Wittmann Westhofen PFALZ Bernhart Schweigen-Rechtenbach Dengler-Seyler Maikammer Jülg Schweigen-Rechtenbach Georg Mosbacher Forst 38 2

4 Holger Koch Bickensohl/Kaiserstuhl Baden, and in particular the pretty range of hills known as the Kaiserstuhl ( Emperor s Chair ), is the traditional seat of German Pinot Noir production. This is a volcanic outcrop on the Rhine plain overlooking Alsace, with a mix of warm volcanic and stony loess soils: Holger Koch s small 9-hectare estate lies at its heart. On taking over from his parents in 1999, he immediately replanted with small-berried French clones from Alsace and Burgundy. He makes Pinot Blanc, Gris and Noir, and has a particular passion for the latter. All his wines are finely structured and aromatic, and they age extremely well was a little more generous than previous years. The wines have pure fruit, energy and length. Pinot Noir Herrenstück [13 17] 2016 There is fresh cherry fruit with a hint of cassis on the nose; on the palate it is smooth and fresh, with lots of energy, lightness and intensity. Drink Pinot Noir* [15 17] 2016 Bright and spicy, with fresh crushed red fruit and vibrant mineral flavours. Drink Pinot Noir*** [16 17] 2016 From the estate s best site, the Halbuck, a terraced vineyard with poor loess soils on volcanic rock: grapes ripen more slowly here than in other vineyards on the estate. Cool, crushed raspberry fruit on the nose is joined on the palate by fresh cherry and fine clean juicy minerality; the finish is long, intense and meltingly smooth. Drink Drink Magnums 171 3

5 Holger Koch (contd.) Pinot Noir Reserve [LO2/18] 2016 The top selection from the Halbuck vineyard. There is more wholebunch fermentation and more new wood than in Holger Koch s other wines, and it is built to last. It has all the requirements: bags of fruit, vibrant acidity and smooth minerality all in perfect balance, leading to a very long finish. Drink Weissburgunder*** [10 18] 2016 The warm stony soil of the Eichbuck gives a ripe, pure wine with a playful mineral note, delicate acidity and a gentle elegant presence all the way to the long fresh finish. Drink Halbuck 4

6 Shelter Kenzingen/Breisgau Hans-Bert Espe and Silke Wolf are two Northerners who met while studying winemaking at Geisenheim and decided to found their own estate in They made their first wines in a bunker on an abandoned Canadian airfield (hence the name) and have since built themselves a winery based on the same design. They have vineyards with old vines in the villages of Kenzingen and Malterdingen, and produce some of the best wines of the region. The 2016s are elegant, forward, and ripe. Spätburgunder [02 18] 2016 A seductive, aromatic wine full of crushed red fruit and spicy smoky notes. There is a fresh, playful note to this wine, and elements of smoke and spice to add complexity to the long fine finish. One of the biggest bangs your buck can get. Drink Pinot Noir [03 18] 2016 Made from small-berried Dijon clones around forty years old. There is sweet ripe morello cherry fruit, fine gentle tannins and a discreet frame of new oak, leading to a long fresh finish. Drink

7 Shelter (contd.) Pinot Noir N114 [04 18] 2016 N114: a French road? No, this new wine is named after the number of the bunker on the Canadian airbase housing Hans-Bert and Silke s their first wine-making efforts. The smallest bunches from the oldest vines in their Nordweil vineyard were harvested a little earlier and vinified separately, giving a single barrique of intense, cherry-fruited wine that easily swallows its new oak. There are hints of cinnamon and smoke, silky tannins and a fine gentle minerality that emerges on a beautifully long finish. Drink Vines in the Breisgau 6

8 Ziereisen Efringen-Kirchen/Markgräferland Hanspeter Ziereisen is quick-thinking and full of energy, and his wines get better every year. After a love affair with new oak early this century, he has tempered its use so that it subtly supports, rather than dominating the wines. Based close to the Swiss and French borders just north of Basel, he makes a selection of Pinot Noirs (and a host of other varietals) that offer both purity and value. His vineyards are on a south-facing slope overlooking Basel, the vines grow at an altitude between 250 and 400 metres, and there is a constant breeze, allowing slower ripening. He does not chaptalise, and uses 10% 20% new wood across the range. The musts are handled very gently, with no punching down and little extraction. The wines are breathtakingly pure and long-lived. The estate releases its wines a year later than most and the 2015s are amongst the most exciting produced. They exude a quiet and reassuring confidence, and will keep extremely well. Tschuppen Spätburgunder 2015 A high clay content in the soil gives structure and an appealing juicy quality to the forward cherry fruit, and the finish is rich and long. Drink Talrain Spätburgunder 2015 From a high vineyard in the Black Forest Kandern, surrounded by dense woodland. The soil is loam with a high iron content, giving it a red hue on a bedrock of limestone, a similar composition to Gevrey. The result is a fine rich wine with a bloody nose, lots of spice, blackcurrant fruit and pure angular minerality. Drink

9 Ziereisen (contd.) Rhini Spätburgunder 2015 A little iron in the soil gives an edge of salty spice to the rounded supple fruit, and there is lovely freshness and balance. Drink Jaspis Pinot Noir 2015 Old vines in warm iron-rich soil are harvested late, resulting in a spicy, raspberry-fruited wine that is delicate, seductive and fresh, with fine tannins and good length. It has lots of power though, and will run and run. Drink Jaspis Spätburgunder Alte Reben 2013 Always one of the best Pinot Noirs in Germany. 20% whole-bunch fermentation of grapes from very old vines gives a lifted freshness and structure to the complex, spicy fruit. It is powerful, and rich, but a delicate freshness prevails on the very long finish. Drink Gutedel A Chasselas at this price? Pull the other one. But when you try it, you see. This is a supremely fine wine in anyone s book, up there with the best Burgundies. So that makes it good value, right? Named after the number of vines per hectare (10 4 or 10,000) in the oldest part of the Steingrüble vineyard, it is a wine of extraordinary complexity and intensity. Overnight skin contact after picking gives freshness, structure and a hint of bruised apple, backed by bright citrus fruit, a dash of cream and a minerality that grows more persistent as it glides to an infinitely long, smooth finish. Drink The Ölberg in Efringen-Kirchen source of Ziereisen 8

10 FRANKEN Rudolf May Retzstadt Rudolf May founded his estate in 1998 with two hectares, and through hard work and emphasis on quality has grown it to fourteen. His focus has always been on Silvaner, and his poor, fossil-rich soils allow him to make very fine, pure, mineral-driven wines. He is one of few growers to demonstrate that this often overlooked varietal can produce distinctive wines that have ageing potential, with the result that he produces the finest Silvaners in Germany. He believes in minimal intervention, hence his recent conversion to organic viticulture. His son Benedikt, recently returned from his studies, is being groomed to take over. Himmselspfad Silvaner GG [18 18] 2017 From the warmest part of the Langenberg vineyard, which is composed primarily of fossil-rich fine limestone. The soil is poor, and the vines are the estate s oldest, at fifty-five, which keeps yields correspondingly low. It is effortless, a dense, rich wine, packed with smooth rounded fruit, a freshening lemon/grapefruit edge and an effortless fine minerality on the finish. Drink Rothlauf Silvaner GG [19 18] 2017 From the best parcel of a cooler vineyard in neighbouring Thüngersheim, the Johannisberg, which features the same fossilrich limestone, but here mixed with multicoloured sandstone. The wine is aged in equal parts in steel, concrete egg and wood, and shows how this often under-rated varietal can be an excellent foil for terroir. It is pure, focussed and smooth, with taut citrus and lychee notes, plus a delicate minerality that emerges gradually from under the vibrant fruit and persists through the long juicy finish. Drink

11 A view from the Rothlauf onto the Main River 10

12 MOSEL Fritz Haag Brauneberg (Mosel) As Oliver Haag matures, he increasingly succeeds in drawing out the elegance from his vineyards in the Brauneberg. His dry wines are very polished, and it is hard to remember them being more appealing than they are this year. They continue to be excellent value. There is a little skin contact before fermentation here, and the wines are more complex and structured as a result. Yields were down in 2017, the grapes were smaller, with thick skins, and there was less juice than expected. The wines are dense and concentrated, but not at the expense of elegance: they are accessible, vibrant and pure. Juffer GG [24 18] 2017 Polished fresh and elegant fruit is joined by slaty mineral flavours and bright citrus acidity in a smooth, balanced wine that is long and satisfying. Drink Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr GG [08 18] 2017 Made from grapes in the heart of the vineyard, clustered around the sundial, where the microclimate is warmer and the vines much older. There is a little new oak here, but it is barely perceptible against the intensity of the steely citrus fruit and dark slaty mineral flavours. Nothing is out of place here: there is balance, elegance and finesse, and the finish is a marked by a delicate fresh minerality. Drink

13 Julian Haart Piesport (Mosel) Julian Haart accompanied by one of the reasons he has so little 2017 to sell Julian Haart now farms four hectares of vines, mostly in Piesport, but with just over a hectare in neighbouring Wintrich. He learned his craft with stints at Egon Müller, Emrich-Schönleber and finally Klaus-Peter Keller, with whom he remains very close. Like all great winemakers, he is thoughtful and considered, and each year adapts his approach to bring out the best of what his vineyards yield. Yields were so low in 2017 that he had time to experiment with extended maceration, long slow pressing of up to seven days on a basket press, and reduced sulphur levels. The wines have much greater concentration than the powerful 2015s, and the acidity is higher. It is quite the best vintage he has ever made. Piesporter Goldtröpchen [21 18] 2017 From 111-year-old vines adjacent to the Schubertslay vineyard. Whole bunches were put in the basket press for two days, yielding a beautifully fine, vibrant wine, full of rich floral and ripe yellow fruit, a very powerful fine minerality that keeps it lean and extraordinarily long. Drink Wintricher Ohligsberg [22 18] 2017 Whole bunches were pressed for seven days, resulting in a leaner wine than the Goldtröpchen. There is cool green fruit on the nose, together with a salty savoury note, and the wine is bright, stony and very, very fine, driving through to an unbelievably persistent finish. Very exciting and exceptionally good. Drink

14 Reinhold Haart Piesport (Mosel) With his father looking after the vineyards, Johannes Haart can devote all his attention to meticulous work in the cellar. Between them, they produce wines that are completely true to their terroirs. These are rich, long-lived wines with plenty of fruit and structure. There were very low yields in 2017, but the quality is outstanding. Goldtröpchen GG [20 18] 2017 Deep, rich soils make for a powerful wine showing stony flavours balanced by pure yellow fruit. It is weighty and rich, with bags of acidity and excellent length, but would be best left alone for a few years to show its best. Drink Ohligsberg GG [40 18] 2017 A pure, vibrant wine with peach and fresh grassy flavours, ripe lemony acidity and a lovely delicate mineral seam running through to the finish. Drink

15 Von Hövel Konz (Saar) Since taking over the estate from his father in 2010, Max von Kunow has radically changed it. Not only has he considerably enlarged it by buying the moribund Schmidt-Reuter estate, but his style is very different. Viticulture is now close to organic (no herbicides or pesticides), he uses natural yeasts and does a prefermentation maceration of the grapes. He makes an increasingly impressive range of dry wines, and we include his GGs in our offer for the first time. Budbreak in the von Hövel vineyards was not as advanced as in other areas, so they were not affected by the frosts in April. Yields were normal, and there were no problems with rot late in the season. The harvest began normally on 7 th October and finished on 23 rd. The wines here have improved steadily over the years, and are now remarkable for their purity and energy. We are excited to include their top dry wines for the first time. Hütte GG [15 18] 2017 There is a very appealing lean raciness to the juicy ripe floral and peach fruit, the minerality is fine, and the finish is long and pure. Drink Scharzhofberg GG [23 18] 2017 The Saar s most famous vineyard gives a powerful, concentrated wine full of dark slaty minerality, dense juicy peach fruit, and a very fine, supremely long and elegant finish. Drink

16 Vineyards in Ürzig 15

17 Peter Lauer Ayl (Saar) This small traditional Saar wine producer in Ayl bottles some of the finest, most classic Rieslings in Germany: pure, precise, piquant, racy, mineral and chiselled, but also ripe, concentrated, compact and complex. Stephan Reinhardt, The Finest Wines of Germany. It s all true folks. From relative obscurity when he took over fifteen years ago, Florian Lauer has elevated this estate to one of the foremost in Germany. Florian s primary goal is for his wines to reflect the place where the grapes were grown. As such, he vinifies each parcel with different soils separately, even from within the same vineyard. To taste them is to see just how transparent a wine can be. It helps that he has very old vines of up to 100 years, and as you would expect, they are vibrant, pure and very exciting was a challenge, but ultimately very rewarding. Frost damage to the early bud break was mitigated by vigorous secondary bud growth, but rot problems in September greatly reduced yields. Painstaking work in the vineyard and rigorous selection of individual bunches and even berries resulted in clean, rich and balanced wines. Thanks to the heavy rain in August, the vines sucked up more matter from the soil, meaning that they have very high dry extracts and plenty of flavour. Saarfeilser Fass 13 GG [13 18] 2017 From the estate s warmest site, a steep west-facing slope directly on the river. This is a complex wine: there is forward, peachy fruit tinged with fresh green flavours, bright acidity and a powerful lingering mineral presence on the finish. Drink Schonfels Fass 11 GG [11 18] 2017 A beautifully smooth and vibrant wine with bright citrus fruit, melting salty mineral flavours and a juicy long finish. There is everything to like here: it is harmonious, effortless and seamless. Drink

18 Peter Lauer (contd.) Kupp Fass 18 GG [18 18] 2017 The first impression is of fresh green and yellow fruit and bright lemon flavours, but then the structure of the wine emerges: it is taut and vibrant, brimming with energy and power and given definition by a fine, very smooth minerality. Best put aside for a while. Drink Schloss Lieser Lieser (Mosel) Thomas Haag made his usual seven GGs in It takes forty minutes to drive from Piesport to Lieser, double that time by tractor, and on that stretch Thomas Haag has 160 different vineyard plots to manage. Exceptional organisation is required to manage all these. Not only does he do so, but he produces a brilliant range of wines that perfectly reflect their terroirs. In 2017 he has produced one of the best collections of dry wines that we tasted. There are few that can match their elegance, lightness of touch and transparency. However, quantities available are so small that in some cases the wines are available only in a mixed case. Schloss Lieser GG Case bottles each of: Himmelreich, Niederberg Helden, Juffer- Sonnenuhr, Wehlener Sonnenuhr, Goldtröpchen and Doktor. A unique opportunity to sample some of the Mosel s finest terroirs, as channelled by one of its best winemakers. Drink bottles

19 Schloss-Lieser (contd.) Goldtröpchen GG [26 18] 2017 A powerful wine of great depth, showing ripe yellow fruit in the form of peach and mirabelle, vibrant juicy lemon flavours and strong mineral notes. So far, so Goldtröpchen, but this one is much more than that. It has energy and purity. It is so fine as to be silky. It is, in short, a benchmark. Drink Himmelreich GG [22 18] 2017 A very poised wine, made in an uncompromising reductive style, but showing all the elegance of which the Himmelreich is capable: there is floral fruit, lightness and vibrancy, and a juicy mineral flourish on the finish. Drink Juffer GG [21 18] 2017 A model of transparency: there is floral fruit, bright lemony acidity and a breathtakingly fine minerality. This is an entry level GG, but has more energy and pure elegance than many grander names. Drink Niederberg Helden GG [23 18] 2017 The Helden vineyard is the heart of Schloss Lieser, and comprises its largest single vineyard holding. It gives powerful, mineraldriven and long-lived wines that are packed with flavour. This year it is an effortless and harmonious joy. There is an abundance of cool orchard fruit, lively citrus notes and silky minerality, all gliding to a lean, persistent finish. Drink Pinot Noir Niederberg Helden [30 18] 2016 Oh ye of little faith. We offered Thomas Haag s Pinot Noir years ago, and while extremely well-made, we were not excited by the quality of the fruit, due in our opinion to the clones rather than the way the vines were cultivated. Several years on we tried a bottle of 2011, and were amazed by the quality: it was silky, balanced and fine. So here is the wine again. It is delicate, strawberry-fruited and light, with a smoky edge and a long smooth finish, and well worth getting your hands on! Drink

20 C. von Schubert Mertesdorf (Ruwer) A very lovely vintage at this famous estate. The approachable style of 2017 particularly suits the fine, delicate minerality and elegant fruit of two of the finest terroirs in the region, the Abstberg and the Herrenberg. The Pinot, too, continues to make great strides. Winemaker Stefan Kraml is learning how best to bring out the terroir of the Abstberg via a red grape, and as the wines age they are becoming more complex. Herrenberg GG [17 18] 2017 A lean, elegant wine with energy and power. There are cool grassy notes and a fine clearly delineated minerality, and a juicy vibrant finish. Drink Abtsberg GG [06 18] 2017 Always a little more generous that the Herrenberg, there is richer fruit here, with fresh peach notes joining the typical cool green flavours. The minerality is pure, smooth and clear, building gradually to a long finish. Drink Drink Magnums 138 Pinot Noir [24 18] 2016 The Pinot Noir from Grünhaus is becoming increasingly complex as the vines age, drawing a fine minerality from the slaty soils of the Abstberg. There is rich ripe red fruit with a savoury character and a hint of smoke, and a long powerful finish. Drink Drink Magnums

21 Daniel Vollenweider Traben-Trarbach (Middle Mosel) Daniel Vollenweider came to the Mosel from his native Switzerland in 1999 with no money but a huge passion for Riesling. He purchased a hectare of a formerly famous, but near-derelict vineyard, the Wolfer Goldgrube, which had very old ungrafted vines, and has not looked back. The estate now comprises 4.5 hectares, and has never produced a sub-standard wine. The Goldgrube is too rocky and steep to be the subject of Flurbereinigung, a process that sees fragmented parcels rationalised, roads built if necessary and vines replanted, all to make mechanisation easier. It runs south to west, and its grey and red slate soils produce deep, spicy wines that need time in bottle to show their glory was a difficult year, with April frosts and the threat of rot requiring great vigilance. Yields are way down, but the quality the quality is outstanding! Goldgrube 2017 A balanced, fine and delicate wine at first taste, but this is followed by a surge of power that builds in depth and length to a juicy salty finish. Drink Goldgrube Aurum 2017 The oldest vines of the Goldgrube over a hundred-years-old have given something special: a fresh vibrant wine that has seemingly limitless reserves of smooth power, immense depth and concentration, intense juicy ripe peach fruit and a finish that doesn t. Drink Shipment Spring bottle-case

22 Wolfer Goldgrube 21

23 Weiser-Künstler Traben-Trarbach (Mosel) Konstantin Weiser and Alexandra Künstler make superb hand-crafted wines from their tiny four-hectare estate. They are not interested in a forward, fruity style, so during fermentation they expose the must to oxygen to emphasise the minerality of the soils. Their wines are dense, fine and very individual. Gaispfad [05 18] Never mind the winemaking style, which strives to bring out the minerality of the terroir: this has bags of peach and citrus fruit to balance the beautifully structured, elegant salty minerality, and a long juicy lemony finish. Drink Ellergrub Grosse Eule [06 18] A more elegant, deep and structured wine than the Gaispfad, with powerful slaty mineral notes and an abundance of peach fruit, along with great length and purity. Very special. Drink

24 NAHE Hermann Dönnhoff Oberhausen (Nahe) A very successful range of dry wines was produced by the estate this year. Uneven ripening from frost damage earlier on meant a rigorous selection was necessary. Botrytis also had to be removed before the harvest, and as a result the crop was reduced by 30%. Nonetheless quality is outstanding: the wines are balanced and dense, brimming with energy and power. This year the Brücke will be sold at auction. It is quite magical and well worth considering, although of course it will be rather more expensive. Dellchen GG [27 18] 2017 Dellchen produces the most ethereal wines in the Dönnhoff stable: there is a lightness and delicacy to the exotic yellow fruit, and the minerality is juicy, pure and lean. Drink

25 Donnhöff(contd.) Hermannshöhle GG [28 18] 2017 Helmut Dönnhoff likens this wine to a large orchestra playing quietly, with each instrument clearly discernible. Nicely put indeed: the wine is powerful, deep and fine, with no trace of fat, and charmingly restrained. It is packed with fruit ripe yellow orchard and juicy pithy citrus a silky smoky minerality, and a long finish. Drink Drink Magnums 252 Schäfer-Fröhlich Bockenau (Nahe) Tim Fröhlich is unquestionably producing the finest dry wines in the Nahe, if not in Germany. In 2017 he escaped the blights of frost and rot that affected his colleagues in the rest of Germany, explaining that this was due to the absence of nitrates in the soil, which have not been added since his father s time. The vines are resultingly less vigorous, have smaller cells containing less water and are therefore less susceptible to frost and disease. In some vineyards in Schlossböckelheim and Monzingen, where his neighbours got nothing, he was able to harvest a good crop. Rain fell at the right time, and a cool period during the harvest enabled him to pick at a leisurely pace. The GGs were harvested particularly late at optimum ripeness. Tim Fröhlich reports that this is his finest vintage to date. He has moved away from long maceration times for the musts, preferring to limit the skin contact to between two and four hours in order keep the wines pure. They are balanced, pure and seemingly effortless: this is one of the finest collections of GGs that we offer. 24

26 Schäfer-Frölich (contd.) Felsenberg GG [18 18] 2017 Felsenberg s position next to the river makes its vines reach maturity quickly. This also means it is susceptible to fog: the damp air softens the grapes, so particular attention has to paid to harvesting at the right moment. Tim Fröhlich is all over it: the wine has a frim backbone, and the fruit is cool, with delicate white flower, apple and white peach notes, and bright lime flavours developing alongside the rich dark minerality, which dominates the long juicy finish. Drink Kupfergrube GG [17 18] 2017 Kupfergrube an old copper mine is a narrow strip of vineyard between the river and steep volcanic cliff, and has correspondingly little airflow. The rocks reflect and store heat, and the grapes have riper flavours even when they have the same must weight as those in other vineyards. There is a dense core of juicy fresh fruit, with notes of passion fruit and ripe pithy grapefruit flavours, bright lemony acidity, and positively melting minerality. This is the first time we have been allocated this wine, and very lucky we are too! Drink Frühlingsplätzchen GG [19 18] 2017 Hard red slate gives a playful elegant wine with spice, red fruits primarily raspberry and a creamy minerality. The bright lemon acidity gives sparkle through to the long finish. Drink Halenberg GG [20 18] 2017 Fine weathered blue slate has produced a dark, flinty wine with great depth and power. There is a cool green minty note, a hint of blueberry, fine lemony acidity and dark liquid slate on the bottomless finish. Drink Stromberg GG [21 18] 2017 The steep rocky volcanic soils of Stromberg host the estate s oldest vines, with half over eighty years old. The wine is gentle, pure and seamlessly fine, with a dense core of energetic ripe yellow fruit, vanishingly fine smoky mineral flavours and a long juicy finish. Drink Felseneck GG [22 18] 2017 A wine fizzing with energy: crisp, bright and powerful, with cool yellow and blue fruit notes, a creamy minerality, and a very fine salty bitter finish. One of the most exciting wines tasted this year. Drink Drink Magnums

27 Nahe vinyards RHEINGAU Robert Weil Kiedrich (Rheingau) Extraordinarily consistent wines as ever from Rheingau s most famous estate. Gräfenberg GG [55 18] 2017 A wine all about finesse: it is ripe and rounded, also smoothly powerful with good fruit intensity, well-integrated acidity and a delicate hint of mineral on the finish

28 RHEINHESSEN Battenfeld-Spanier Hohen-Sülzen / Kühling-Gillot Bodenheim If Prüm made wines in Rheinhessen, this is what they would be like: beautifully pure, restrained, and with the promise of a long life. The wines from both estates are made by Oliver Spanier since his marriage to Carolin Gillot. He has the good fortune to have wide-ranging terroirs to explore, principally the red slate soils of Nierstein from Kühling-Gillot, and the limestone-based vineyards of his own estate further south. Ölberg GG [42 18] 2017 The south-east orientation of the Ölberg ensures a lot of sun, which gives a rich, rounded wine, and is also exposed to wind, which keeps the wines fresh. Oliver Spanier has made an elegant, vibrant wine with mint and citrus notes and an energetic, powerful finish. Drink Pettenthal GG [44 18] 2017 There is a juicy core of citrus fruit enveloped by smooth, elegant mineral flavours, and a long zesty salty finish. Drink Hipping GG [43 18] 2017 A gorgeously elegant wine, packed with very fine citrus and peach fruit, intense salty minerality and very long energetic finish. The lightness of touch is incredible a magical wine! Drink

29 Battenfeld-Spanier/Kühling-Gillot(contd.) Frauenberg GG [39 18] 2017 A limestone base gives powerful citrus notes in the form of pithy grapefruit and yellow peach with a hint of lime. It is linear, pure and very juicy, and a delicate minerality emerges on the long fresh finish. Drink Keller Flörsheim-Dalsheim (Rheinhessen) A week before the harvest a severe hailstorm swept across Westhofen, causing extensive damage to Morstein, Brunnenhäuschen and Kirchspiel. This means that there is very little wine to go around, but the quality is quite outstanding. The reds were not affected, and are pure, vibrant and quite delicious. The auction will see a Pettenthal Riesling GG, a Morstein Pinot Noir GG, and a Pettenthal TBA Goldkapsel. Kirchspiel GG 2017 Floral spicy notes are joined by citrus and peach. There s also a hint of cool green flavours, a lovely mineral tension and a juicy melting quality on the long salty finish. Drink

30 Keller (contd.) Hubacker GG 2017 A vineyard owned by the Keller family since The dry wine is made from grapes harvested in the shadiest part of the vineyard to where they are less ripe, and thus maintain freshness in the wine. This is dense, rich and very pure, with yellow fruit, deep smoky mineral notes and a long fine powerful finish. Drink Grand Cru Case: The Kellerkiste 2017 Very special: a twelve-bottle GG case containing two bottles each of G-Max, Morstein GG, Abts. E GG, Kirchspiel GG, and one bottle of Hubacker GG, Hipping GG, Abts E. Auslese GK and Hubacker Auslese GK. Very limited quantities. Wooden case. Shipment Spring/Summer Spätburgunder S 2016 From younger vines in the Morstein (around twenty-five years old) and others from Bürgel and Frauenberg. This is juicy, fresh and fine, with elegant raspberry and cherry fruit and a long elegant finish. Drink Bürgel Spätburgunder GG 2016 There is fresh crunchy red-berry fruit here with notes of spice, fine tannins and a long creamy finish. Drink Frauenberg Spätburgunder GG 2016 There is much more structure here than in the other reds from the estate, and it is more for the long haul. The fruit is dense, spicy and fresh, the tannins pronounced but balanced and elegant, and the finish extremely long. Drink bottle case 1,

31 Knewitz Appenheim (Rheinhessen) Rheinhessen is a land of rolling hills, so the long, very even slope facing due south seems out of the ordinary. Which it is: forty million years ago it was a coral reef in a prehistoric sea. It is almost pure limestone, and this makes the Knewitz wines particularly rich and taut. Tobias Knewitz took over the estate from his father in 2009 and is one of the rising stars of this exciting region. Together with his brother he produces superbly crafted Rieslings and excellent Chardonnays. He believes in long ageing on the lees, and bottles two of his top dry Rieslings a year after most other growers. Goldberg [14 18] 2017 From a warmer site, with a higher clay content in the soil. The fruit is pure and yellow, tending to the tropical, and there is lovely racy strain of acidity running through that keeps the wine fresh and vibrant, joined on the finish by a cool minerality. Drink Steinacker [17 18] 2017 Red soils give a herbal, crisp lemony wine with a hint of the ferrous. There is considerable density, a very fine delicate minerality and a long smooth finish. Drink Hundertgulden [16 18] 2017 So named because of the prices it once fetched, this vineyard is made up of chalky loam on a limestone base, and gives a lean, citrusy wine with a silky minerality and a long fresh salty finish. Very exciting! Drink

32 Wittmann Westhofen (Rheinhessen) Philip Wittmann s estate in Westhofen, the heart of southern Rheinhessen, is surrounded by some of the region s best vineyards. The Wittmans are not exactly newcomers to the area, having made wine here since This has given them a sense of responsibility for the soils in their vineyards: they were pioneers in adopting organic methods in 1990, and converted to biodynamics in Philip Wittmann reports that his wines now have more character and depth. The estate makes wine from several varieties, but predominantly Riesling. Most holdings are in Westhofen but, like their colleague Klaus-Peter Keller, they also have vineyards in Nierstein. Top of the pyramid, however, are the four Westhofen GG vineyards: Aulerde, Kirchspiel, Brunnenhäuschen and Morstein. We are pleased to be able to offer all four this year, but in severely reduced quantities due to the devastating hailstorm just before the harvest. Aulerde GG [16 18] 2017 The warmest site in the estate s portfolio, with rich marl soils on a sandy clay base. There is an abundance of tropical fruit peach, mango and pineapple plus juicy lemony acidity, an elegant minerality and a long easy finish. Drink Kirchspiel GG [17 18] 2017 Situated just above the Aulerde in a shallow amphitheatre which catches the first sun, the soil is mostly limestone with some loam. This gives a cool, lemony note to the spicy floral fruit, and there is richness, vibrancy and delightful mineral tension leading to a long fine salty finish. Drink Brunnenhäuschen GG [18 18] 2017 A south-facing vineyard with a lot of sun, but a west wind prevents the grapes from ripening too quickly, and it is harvested after the Kirchspiel. This is a supremely smooth and rounded wine, with a hint of red fruits below the fine lemony flavours, lots of taut mineral notes and a warm elegant finish. Drink

33 Wittman (contd.) Morstein GG [19 18] 2017 The coolest vineyard in the line-up, with clay soil on a rocky limestone base giving a powerful rich wine that will need time to unfold. It is seamless, ripe and long, with a finely wrought mineral structure and a very long finish indeed. Drink Keller s bit of Morstein 32

34 PFALZ Bernhart Schweigen-Rechtenbach Like his colleague Johannes Jülg, Gerd Bernhart s best vineyards are across the border in Alsace over eleven hectares of his seventeen. As a result, he cannot declare some of his best wines as GG, since that designation can only be applied to vineyards in Germany. He specialises in Pinot Noir and Pinot Blanc, and makes a fine Chardonnay was an excellent year here: the wines are ripe, pure and powerful. Pinot Noir S [32 17] 2015 From the Finstergasse vineyard, where warm rich clay soils on a limestone base give a ripe, open wine with deep raspberry fruit, a hint of smoke and elegant soft tannins. Drink Pinot Noir R [33 17] 2015 From vines in the Wormberg, planted in This is full of rich damson and plum fruit with notes of spice, juicy acidity and a fine minerality emerging on the long finish. Drink

35 Bernhart (contd.) Pinot Noir RG [34 17] 2015 From the estate s best site, Rädling, composed of marl soils rich in limestone. It gives a very rich, powerful wine with great reserves of energy, showing cherry fruit, very fine, juicy tannins framed by new wood, and smooth mineral flavours on the long finish. Will reward time in bottle. Drink Dengler-Seyler Maikammer (Pfalz) Matthias Seyler had a background in business, but he married the girl next door, who happened to own a wine estate, so he retrained and now they run it together. Maikammer is one of the principal winegrowing villages in the Southern Pfalz, with a history of viticulture going back to Roman times. The estate comprises fifteen hectares, and a wide variety of soils allows many different varietals to be grown there successfully. Its main site is the Heiligenberg; both wines below come from individually named plots within it. Im Obern Weinspar [25 18] 2017 From fifty-year-old vines in limestone-gravel soil. This is juicy and pithy, with grapefruit, tropical and vibrant lemony notes, a chalky mineral backbone and a long fresh finish. Drink Am Heiligen Berg [24 18] 2017 From heavier soils with more clay in the limestone-gravel mix. This is a taut, pure and very fine wine, with dense fruit that will take time to emerge, juicy lemony acidity and a long smooth finish with a salty edge. Drink

36 A view from the Heiligenberg 35

37 Jülg Schweigen-Rechtenbach (Pfalz) Weingut Jülg is a stone s throw from the French border, and half its vineyards are in Alsace. A further French connection is the young winemaker Johannes s spell under Thierry Brouin at Domaine des Lambrays, which taught him to focus on complexity and elegance rather than obvious primary fruit. He also spent seven years working at top German estates, including Weingut Keller, before returning home in 2011, when his father handed him the reins of the twenty-hectare family estate. His primary focus has been to improve work in the vineyard with new French clones and denser planting, and resulting wines have become finer and more balanced, with impressive Riesling and superb Pinot Noir. The shifting frontier between Germany and France has resulted in many Schweigen-Rechtenbach growers owning vineyards on both sides of the border. This has caused difficulty in classification: although they can make wine from French grapes and sell them as German, they are unable to use French vineyard names on German bottlings, so cannot, for example declare GGs from them. Just as confusing is the expansion of the commune s best vineyards, the four-hectare Sonnenberg, to a Grosslage, meaning that almost all the wines from the town can be labelled with its name even when they are miles away. Johannes Jülg is rising to the forefront of Pfalz growers. His 2016s are quite superb. 36

38 Jülg(contd.) Spätburgunder [14 18] 2016 From vines around Schweigen-Rechtenbach, half of them in France. The fruit is from young vines, or older ones in less favoured sites. It is densely coloured and aromatic, and there are lovely cherry and darker fruit flavours that linger on a fine smooth finish. A lot of wine for the price. Drink Spätburgunder R [32 18] 2016 From 25-year-old vines in Wormberg vineyard, across the border in France. A fleshy wine this year, with intense dark fruit and fine gentle tannins, balanced by a gentle vein of ripe acidity. Drink Spätburgunder Sonnenberg [33 18] 2016 From the original Sonnenberg vineyard in Germany. We are back up to 100% new wood after a reduction last year, but the dark dense fruit easily absorbs it. This is fresh, seductive and fine, with silky tannins and a very long smooth mineral-driven finish. It will reward cellaring. Drink Rädling in Alsace 37

39 Georg Mosbacher Forst (Pfalz) Sabine Mosbacher and Jurgen Duringer are one of the top producers in the Pfalz, making a range of understated, supple wines. Their vineyard holding comprises some of the best in the region, including a tiny parcel of the fabled Jesuitengarten. Their secret is to do less, so all their energies are devoted to the vineyards, with winemaking almost an afterthought. This hands-off approach gives wines that are pure, elegant and perfectly harmonious across the range, and they age beautifully, coming into their own after five years or so, and easily lasting twenty-five was not an easy year. Frost and poor flowering reduced yields by 30%, and the weather swung between cold and wet in the early part of the season and hot and dry at the end. It was very hard work, but the grapes were harvested in perfect condition. The wines are not as powerful as the 2016s, but have less alcohol and are much more charming and accessible. Ungeheuer GG [44 18] 2017 Ungeheuer means monster, and the wines from this vineyard are often monumental. The version from here is certainly powerful, but also perfumed and fine, with a core of juicy fruit and a meltingly long mineral-driven finish. Drink Freundstück GG 2017 A pure rich and ripe wine, showing rounded spicy citrus fruit and powerful mineral flavours, plus a long fresh finish. Drink Jesuitengarten GG [45 18] 2017 Let s not beat about the bush: this was one of the finest, silkiest wines we tried this year. It is intensely perfumed, with yellow fruit and juicy acidity, and underpinned by a beautifully fine mineral seam and a long powerful finish. Will run and run. Drink

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