Our Most Iconic Riesling, The One That Started It All - 2020 Molsheim (94 Points)

 The 2020 Vintage

 - A Classic Vintage

 - There Was Nothing to Do in 2020 But Work in the Vineyard

 - Extraordinarily High Quality

 - A Vintage That Won't Shut Down

2020 Battenfeld Spanier "Molsheim" Riesling Trocken

 - 94 Points Pigott

 - The Calling Card of One of the Top 5 Estates in Germany

 - The 1er Cru Baby GG (Younger Vines Am Schwarzen Hergott)

 - One of the Best Values in all of German Wine

 - Our Best Selling Riesling

 - One of the Iconic Wines in Our Portfolio

 - Nose: Amazing Serene Subtle Depth

 - "Stacks of mirabelle and candied lemon, plus a wide range of dried flowers." (SP)

 - Nougat, Minerals, Apricot and Herbs

 - Palate: Stunning

 - Tangy, Citrus-Infused and Honeyed

 - Excellent Clarity and Finesse

 - "Major concentration for this category, packed into a rather sleek body. (SP)

 - Terrific Minerality

 - Awesome Texture and Mouthfeel

 - Our Best Selling Riesling

 - Case Pricing

This is the 9th vintage of Battenfeld Spanier Mölsheim I’ve sold and for us this wine is almost the life blood of this company. I get nostalgic every time I write a Mölsheim email as working with Carolin and H.O. is a dream come true. I’ll never forget meeting H.O. for the first time and
walking and taking and seeing the vineyard sites. He’s very outspoken like I am and saw a rare drive in him to constantly improve.

When we started with Battenfeld the wines were excellent. Now with our 9th vintage this is easily a top 10 German Riesling estate and the wines for the most part are allocated. I always believed in H.O and. Carolin from the moment I met them. The drive was obvious and the terroir was elite. They’ve handled their success better than anybody and nobody deserves it more. It’s gotta be hard to be in the same wine region as Keller as Keller is great but he is fetishized and always talked about. If Keller is the Wayne Gretzky of the Rheinhesen then Battenfeld Spanier is the Mark Messier. 

The 2020 Vintage

I’ve tasted through all the 1er Cru wines and below of Battenfeld Spanier and it is a doozy of a vintage and is such a great vintage to have after 2019. I look at this pair of vintages like 1999 and 2000 in Burgundy. 1999 was a tremendous success and had high ripeness, high yields and incredible fruit and energy. Then 2000 was a return to a classic excellent vintage. Now in 2020 it’s hard to come by these so called classic vintages. The 2000s I’ve always had a soft spot for and the better wines are drinking so well now and the terroir is shining. This is the trajectory I see for the 2020 German Rieslings. I think they will drink well young and can benefit from age but unlike the 19s which will most assuredly close down, the 20’s most likely will not. All the wines I opened followed the same trajectory. Wide open and delicious for 4-6 hours then a shutdown and wide open all day the next day. 

I love these wines. They have terrific acidity and most importantly they have a harmony that defines a classic vintage. Everything is in its perfect place. The fruit, the acid, the minerality all playing off of each other. They have terrified depth and the freshness is awesome. Perfect ripeness and textured. The texture makes them so drinkable and enjoyable young. There is a big sphere effect for these 2020s and also geeky Riesling tartness that is so good. It is not punishing but the type of tartness Riesling lovers seek out. It’s perfect tartness. This vintage will also be useful as 2021 likely will be short and the 19s will shut down like the 15s and 17s. So 2020 is coming at the perfect time.

The Wine

The 2020 Battenfeld Spanier Mölsheim Riesling Trocken can be had for $29.99 each on a 4-pack and $27.99 on a 12 bottle case. The price is insane on this and originally I wanted to open Fass Selections so I could sell Spatlese Trockens for under $30, which I’ve done dozens of times over the years but obviously we expanded into other areas but it’s nice that my original dream is still alive and kicking. Onto the note!

Maybe the most delicious and important German Riesling we sell! And 2020 continues the streak of brilliance!

Nose of nougat, minerals, apricot and herbs. So good. Even some sponti this year! So clean and just amazing serene subtle depth on the nose. Day 2 it sung more! Nose is super harmonious today. Clean aromas of caramel, nougatine, spice, minerals, apricots with superb aromatic complexity.

Palate is just stunning. Tangy, citrus-infused and honeyed with excellent clarity and finesse. Really wonderful finesse here. Lovely minerality and a stunning combo of skeletal purity and structure with a honeyed richness. No one can do that juxtaposition better than Battenfeld. Wonderful wonderful wonderful. Superb wine with wonderful juiciness and just so engaging. 

On day 2, the finesse and depth on the really complex palate really deliver and there is so much minerality. Yet it remains playful and joyous. Impossible not to chug. Awesome texture and mouthfeel and real rock quarry action in the finish. Drink now through 2034. Below is the 94 point score by Stuart Piggot. 

“Quite some flint, along with some funk (reduction) on the nose from long sur-lie maturation. Stacks of mirabelle and candied lemon, plus a wide range of dried flowers. Major concentration for this category, packed into a rather sleek body. Intensely chalky finish that's also silky in texture. From organically grown grapes. Drinkable now, but best from 2023.”- 94 Points, Stuart Piggott

Dollar for dollar this KILLS white Burgundy at this price point. It's. Not. Close. I am absolutely in love with this wine because of how it tastes and how for 8 vintages in a row it represents the best value for dry German Riesling in a stacked portfolio. I fell in love with it the first time I tasted it in Germany and it's been a torrid affair ever since. It's one of my favorite under $30 wines I've ever had. I can't even begin to describe how special the 2020 is.

2020 Battenfeld Spanier Mölsheim Riesling Trocken - $31.99 ($119.96 4-Pack, $335.88 12 bottle Case {$27.99!})