- Some of the Best Terroir in Germany
- They Try to Bring Out the Intrinsic Truth of Each Vineyard
- Reminds Me Most of Elite Grand Cru Chablis
- All Spontaneously Fermented
- Not Fined, Extended Time on the Lees
- Results in Wines of Remarkable Complexity
- Incredibly Ageworthy
- Scores Compete with the Best in the Nahe at a Fraction of the Price
2019 Gut Hermannsberg Altenbamberger Rotenberg Riesling Grosses Gewachs
- 94-96 Points from Stephan Reinhardt (the Wine Advocate)
- Nose: So Complex
- Super Crystalline
- Citrus Oil. Really High Toned Crystallized Citrus Notes
- Honey, Flowers. Notes of White and Oolong Tea
- Elegant Spice
- Palate: So Much Flavor onto a Silk String
- All the Fruit, Mineral, Tea, Honey and Slate Notes Integrated Perfectly
- Lemony Acid
- Incredible Tension and Superb Minerality
- In 2-5 Years, This Will Sing but Can Be Enjoyed Young
- Case Pricing
Why Have I Never Heard of This Estate? From State Ownership to One of the Top Wineries in Germany
Whenever I have a new top estate, I get one question.
If these guys are so great, why haven't I heard of them?
Here, I have an easy answer. Gut Hermannsberg was founded in 1902 as a Royal Prussian Domaine (state owned). The state did a great job of acquiring incredible terroir but a lousy job of selling the wines in the US.
They sold the estate in 1998 to private owners. With the shift to dry wines starting 20 years ago, the estate made very good but not elite wines. They also failed to secure a top importer in the US.
A New Beginning
Jens Reidel of Hamburg Germany purchased the estate in 2009. Karsten Peter was named the winemaker. They dramatically cut yields, moved to sustainable agriculture and invested heavily in quality.
They took the estate from very good with great terroir to elite.
Today I am honored and proud to start importing and selling the brilliant Rieslings of Gut Hermannsberg.
The Estate
They are easily the largest producer of elite dry Riesling in the Nahe with 90% of their output being dry. They have just insane terroir. 7 Grosses Gewachs/Grand Cru sites. They also release them in a unique way. 3 are released with the current vintage (19), then 3 are released with an extra year of age (18) and then the top one, Kupfergrube, is released 5 years after the vintage. That is now on 2015. I tasted all 7 of them and have decided to start with the greatest GG value we have ever sold. 
The Style
I love this style of dry German Riesling. This is my preferred style. I love all of our producers but they all have different styles and I love them all but we all have preferences. This is my preference. The wines remind me most of elite Grand Cru Chablis.
Above all these are beguiling wines of intense and focused minerality. There is no shortage of acid here. I mean these are bracing, pre global warming types of acidity. They wake you up. They are wines of elite terroir. If you have 7 GGs then you're going to likely be a winery that focuses on terroir. They are all so different and distinctive. These wines have fruit but it takes hours or years to develop. The 15 Kupfergrube was the only wine of the 7 I tasted that had obvious fruit on pop and pour. When it appears, the fruit is cooling and very restrained and has wonderful purity. There is tension in these wines that only the best Rieslings have to offer. These are all spontaneously fermented and are not fined with extended time on the lees. The end product is utterly brilliant. Drink these slowly, as they evolve constantly.
Every single wine I tasted was better on day 2, which tells me these are going to age beautifully.
These are thrilling, crystalline wines with drop dead purity with exceptional depth and minerality. These cannot be missed.
The Wine
The 2019 Gut Hermannsberg Altenbamberger Rotenberg Riesling Grosses Gewachs for $49.99 a bottle on a 4-pack and $47.99 on a 12 bottle case is a stunning stunning deal. With the tariff rebate the case price is $42.52!
This wine got 94-96 points from Stephan Reinhardt at the Wine Advocate. Hello, neck breaking QPR? Just unreal. This is where my DTC model really just owns. No one comes close to deals like this. All of you that like to complain that prices are going up, buy this wine because prices will go up. Every producer I have the prices have gone up since I started working with them. This is 2019, inexpensive as all can be, elite quality and will only be more expensive in 2020 and 2021. Buy this wine. Buy a case. This is the biggest Riesling no brainer we have sold in years.
A super wow nose. Tons of airy minerals and super crystalline. Citrus oil. Wow really high toned crystallized citrus notes. Honey, flowers. Spice. Notes of white and oolong tea. So, so complex. Sick. 9.7 nose. So effin' complex. This is like Grand Cru Chablis made from Riesling. There is a wonderful austerity here. Wow. Wow. The nose gets crazier and crazier with air. Wow the complexity is insane. Just insane. A special wine. Really long and gets to every nook and cranny. Such a complex, sappy and cooling nose. So aromatically sappy.
The palate has all the fruit, mineral, tea, honey and slate notes integrated perfectly. The way they pack so much flavor onto a silk string versus a thick rope is really compelling. Intense crystalline structure and a wonderful piquant acidity and freshness. What a texture on the palate. This is preposterously mineral. Again, this is like a Grand Cru Chablis made with Riesling. Just a mineral wash. So long and well integrated. Bananas. (Not the flavor, what the wine is.) On day 2 it just sings! Chewy and textured palate with high acid, lemony acid, tension and superb minerality. Really expands on the back end but this is a clearly high quality but clearly a young wine. Wonderful potential. Amazing structure here. The age-ability of these wines is remarkable. I think in 2-5 years this will sing but can be enjoyed young.
Below is the 94-96 point Stefan Reinhardt review.
"The 2019 Altenbamberg Rotenberg GG opens with a generous yet refined and elegant bouquet of ripe (tropical) fruit aromas and spicy notes of crushed stones full of herbs and iron. Juicy and piquant on the palate, this is refined and crystalline Riesling with challenging precision and stony character. The wine is intense, juicy and stony and probably needs up top 10 years to show all of its class. Tasted as a sample in April 2020. To be released in September." - 94-96 Points, Stephan Reinhardt Wine Advocate
2019 Gut Hermannsberg Altenbamberger Rotenberg Riesling Grosses Gewachs - $51.99 ($199.96 4-pack, $575.88 12 bottle case {$47.99}) (Including tariff of $5.47)
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