- Some of the Best Terroir in Germany
- They Try to Bring Out the Intrinsic Truth of Each Vineyard
- Top Wines Remind 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 Vom Vulkan Riesling Trocken
- 93 Points, Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate
- Case Pricing Under $26
- Nose: So Clear and Refined
- Confectionary. Creamy. Peach
- Rainer Cherries.
- Very Expansive and Airy
- Barely Ripe Peach Skin
- Palate: So Elegant and Fine
- Classic, Refined
- Intense, Refined and Complex Minerality
- Finishes Super Saline and Salty
- Terrific Now but Honestly in 2 years This Will KILL
The Greatest White Wine for Food in the World
Dry German riesling is famous for being incredible with food. And I'd say that's true up and down the line. But if I really want something that is maximally harmonious with food, I go with Ortsweine.
Why?
I love Grosses Gewachs but they are more complex and dense and sometimes that's not always what I want (although with certain dishes it is incredible). I love every day Gutsweine but they can be a bit too uncomplicated with certain foods. Ortsweine (village/1er Cru) are in that sweet spot. They have enough going on to be interesting to drink but I don't need to overly focus on them.
The Wine
So last Saturday we offered the first 2019 GG from our new estate, the great Gut Hermannsberg in the Nahe, and today we have the most ridiculous absurd Ortsweine value (Battenfeld Spanier "Mölsheim" and Kühling Gillot "Nierstein. are Ortsweine). Today I've got the 2019 Gut Hermannsberg Vom Vulkan Riesling Trocken for $27.99 a bottle on a 4-pack and $25.99 on a 12 bottle case. This is an amazing wine and all young Kupfergrube GG fruit.
Baby Kupfergrube GG here. What a nose. Wow. Just sickness. 9.4 score on the nose off the bat. Confectionary. Creamy. Peach. Rainer cherries. So clear and refined. Very expansive and airy. Peach fuzz. Barely ripe peach skin. Just a terrific nose.
Palate is so elegant and fine. Just as mineral as the Vom Schiefer (young Hermannsberg GG) but it
caresses rather than bludgeons. Really classic, refined and again, that Gut Hermannsberg intense, refined and complex minerality. Really mouthfilling and a lovely intense mineral roundness. Structured and intense. Very long and finishes super saline and salty. Just a wonderful wine and I would easily down a case over a year. It will improve greatly but man, what a joy juice it is now.
caresses rather than bludgeons. Really classic, refined and again, that Gut Hermannsberg intense, refined and complex minerality. Really mouthfilling and a lovely intense mineral roundness. Structured and intense. Very long and finishes super saline and salty. Just a wonderful wine and I would easily down a case over a year. It will improve greatly but man, what a joy juice it is now.
On day 2 it was glorious. If there is any left from Day 1. Sick spacious minerals.
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.
Grapefruit. White cherry. Super nice. Palate is taut and mineral. Very high acid. Wakes you up! But a chewy intensity. Long. Lemon, lime flavors expand on the finish. Geeky and excellent. Huge acid, minerals and grapefruit. Terrific now but honestly in 2 years this will KILL.
Below is the 93 Point Stephan Reinhardt review.
"The 2019 Vom Vulkan, a Schlossböckelheimer Riesling trocken, is exciting on the intense and fruity but also pure and stony bouquet. Round and mouthfilling yet crystalline and finessed on the palate,this is a powerful yet stony, enormously salty and tensioned Riesling that is more open-hearted at this early stage than the discreet and coolish Niederhausen trocken from slate (Vom Schiefer). " 93 Points, Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate
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.
2019 Gut Hermannsberg Vom Vulkan - $29.99
($111.96 4-Pack, $311.88 12 bottle case)
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