- 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 Niederhausen Steinberg Riesling Grosses Gewachs
- 94-95 points Stephan Reinhardt, WA
- Nose: Dizzying Mineral Complexity
- Peach Flesh, Rainer Cherries, Green Apple
- Some Apple Honey
- Salt and Flint
- Palate Even Better
- Massive Minerality, Massive Concentration and Stunningly Pure
- Unreal Texture and Refinement
- Some Tolkien Inner Earth Action
- Salty, So Saline
- Layered and Deep
- Remarkable Elegance
2018 Gut Hermannsberg Niederhausen Hermannsberg Riesling Grosses Gewachs MONOPOLE
- 93 Points, Stephan Reinhardt, WA
- Slightly More Open than the 19 at This Point
- I Ranked at the Same Level as the 19 Above
- Killer, Killer Nose
- Major White Cherry Nahe Love
- Apricot, Peach, Spice, Lanolin and Vanilla Extract
- Palate: Massive, Complex, Tangy, Refined
- Amazing Purity and Balance
- Perfect Freshness, Elegance and Minerality All Trademarks of Hermannsberg
- Super Mineral and Saline
- Rainwater-Like Purity
- Will Age 15+ Years
- Monopole Vineyard - Owned 100% by Gut Hermannsberg
- Steepest of All Their Sites
- 5.5 Hectares
I already have offered one GG from the great Gut Hermannsberg for the spring ship but I wanted to offer a few more so people can open them all and compare as the terroir expression on these wines is top notch and I was dying to sell some wine from the elite Nahe village of Niederhausen.
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 dramatically cut yields, moved to sustainable agriculture and invested heavily in quality.
They took the estate from very good with great terroir to elite.
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.
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.
As we all know Niederhausen has the great Hermannshöhle vineyard and Donnhoff is seen as the master of that site. But there are other vineyards in Niederhausen and today I'm showcasing two of them. One from 2019 and one from 2018.
The Wines
Up first is the 2019 Gut Hermannsberg Niederhausen Steinberg Riesling Grosses Gewachs for $44.99 on a 4-pack. This got 94-95 points from Stephan Reinhardt and represents a transcendent value.
What a nose. Dizzying mineral complexity. Huge vulcanized rubber. Peach flesh, rainer cherries, some apple honey, green apple, salt and flint. Hint of spice and fireplace. So good. Like an oily aspect. Soupy? But so fine, so delicate yet expansive and intense. Sickness. 9.6 nose. Stunning. And it will get better. Wow, what a massive step up from the 1er Cru wines.
Palate is even better. Unreal texture and refinement. Just sickness. This is very very high class juice. Massive minerality, massive concentration and stunningly pure. So so elegant yet it's all one piece, like a finely tailored suit jacket. Nose keeps on expanding. So deep. Getting some Tolkien inner earth action here. Wow this is salty! Insa1ne salinity, it dances so playfully. The second day it continues to impress. Lemon pith and cotton candy. Dripping apricot soup. Juuust ripe. Floral. More accessible today than the Rotenberg. More user friendly. Tremendous fruit on day 2, but in that clear, elite GG way. So compact, precise and framed. Really impressive top notes of herbs. Layered and deep. Wow, stunningly elegant and profound. Really ripe and pure. But crazy mineral but backed by more fruit. Long. But the elegance is what really stands out. It's next level and a big leap over yesterday. And it was insane on day 1! Serious wine. More accessible and can be drunk now and doesn't demand age like Rotenberg. Great wine.
What a long finish. This is so exciting. Awesome finish that never lets go. Grippy. This is incredible and young but just a masterpiece. Finish is 60 seconds. Sickness!! Below is the 94-95 Point Reinhardt review.
"Still cloudy in April, the sample of the 2019 Niederhausen Steinberg GG is intense and flinty on the deep, concentrated, pure and stony nose. Very elegant and juicy on the palate, it has a crystalline structure, good grip and a long, intense finish. This is a full-bodied and quite powerful yet pure, refreshing and mineral Steinberg-an exemplary representation of its terroir. The finish is crystalline, pure, salty and very long. This is a very promising long-distance runner with a tight grip and some phenols that will oxidize with time." - 94-95 points Stephan Reinhardt, WA
Up next is a stunning wine and it's from the 2018 vintage as this gets an extra year in thebottle. This is a MONOPOLE of Gut Hermannssberg. The 2018 Gut Hermannsberg Niederhausen Hermannsberg Riesling Grosses Gewachs MONOPOLE can be had for $49.99 a bottle on a 4-pack. This is a stunning stunning wine. It has the trademark elegance, freshness, minerality and depth that this unique MONOPOLE shows.
Killer, killer nose. White cherry Nahe love. Apricot, peach, spice, lanolin and vanilla extract. So pretty. So ebullient. Very wide open aromas. Herbs. Very complex. Very serene. Wonderful peach skin.
Palate is massive, complex, tangy, refined and young with massive fruit skin flavors. Amazing purity and balance. Ripe but perfect freshness and minerality offset it. As it airs the minerality becomes more aromatically pungent. Really delicate but also super mineral and saline. That sweet type of saline. Really long and delineated. Lovely structured finish. Really really long. Terrific. Really top level finesse with air and a terrific crystalline saline structure. Salty and long. Nose gets more pluot. As it airs slightly confectionary. On Day 2 it got better. Lanolin, white cherry and just so mineral and so clean. Such clarity. Wet earth. Soil tones. Rainwater. Amazing minerality on the palate. Concentrated, juicy and mineral. Nimble, delicate and so clean. What clarity. Really balanced, round and pure. Such a great wine. Drink this now but will age 15+ years. A stunner. Below is Stephan Reinhardt's 93 Point score. I think this is a 95 point wine at least.
"The 2018 Niederhausen Hermannsberg GG is deep, intense and elegant on the well-balanced and promising though still reductive nose, which has yellow paprika aromas and flinty notes of crushed stones. Piquant, tight and juicy, with persistent grip and salinity, this is a complex Riesling that has been aged on the lees for more than one year (in 600-liter Stockinger and stainless steel tanks). This is an excellent Riesling: still young and tight but with great talents that are already starting to emerging." - 93 Points, Stephan Reinhardt, WA
2019 Gut Hermannsberg Niederhausen Steinberg Riesling Grosses Gewachs - $46.99 ($179.96 4-Pack)
2018 Gut Hermannsberg Niederhausen Hermannsberg Riesling Grosses Gewachs MONOPOLE - $51.99 ($199.96 4-Pack)
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