2019 K.H. Schneider Domberg Riesling Trocken
- 94 Points, Stuart Pigott
- Nose: Etherial
- Super Mineral
- Wet Stones
- Very Refined and Precise
- Unreal Mineral Perfume
- Sea Air, Confectionary Aromas
- So Elegant and Refined
- Tight, Focused and Lemony
- Vivid Citrus and White Cherry Fruit
- Salty
- Lithe, Lacey, Expressive and Sparse /CASE PRICING $28.99
2019 K.H. Schneider Felsenberg Auslese
- 96 Points, Stuart Pigott / 500 ML
- Brilliant Nose
- Honeyed Apricot and Peach Fruit
- Rapier-Like Acidity
- Insane Concentration and Acids
- Green Apple and Peaches
- Penetrating Minerals
2019 KH Schneider Domberg Riesling Spatlese
- 95 Points, $21.99 On a CASE
- Nose: Huge Tropical and Cherry Blast
- Superb Minerality
- Palate: Stunning Concentration and Purity
- Driving, Forceful Minerality
- Stunning Depth and Structure
- One of the Great Spatlese Values We've Sold
If I've got one producer amongst my German Riesling producers that has risen to the top except he hasn't quite gotten the right acclaim (and price per bottle) it's Andi Schneider. That has now changed (the acclaim part). Andi has gotten huge score love from Stuart Pigott who has forgotten more about German wine than I will ever know. That counts for a lot to be honest as I fondly remember drinking many a great Riesling with Stuart at an epic after party one night where he supplied the wines from his own cellar. I've also attended many seminars he has hosted on German Riesling. In Germany he is as respected as Parker was at his highest influence in America. He is the one who actually introduced me to Andi Schneider's wines through something he had written a few years back about Andi Schneider and he said in his own inimitable way,
Andi kind of reminds a bit of the position that Hofgut Falkenstein was in for many years before he was catapulted into fame. Andi Schneider is in a better position than Falkenstein was in when I was selling them on the Upper East Side. Andi has been given very high praise and write-ups by Stuart Pigott for his 2016/2015/2017/2018 collections as well as his 2019s. His 2019 dry and sweet wines are stunning examples of Andi's electric mineral, high acid style. These wines will wake you up. It's Nahe so the fruit is more red/white cherries and a bit riper, but honestly when these wines are young, the fruit is not really what they are about. They are about terroir, the amazing energy of Riesling and the insane minerality of Andi's special nook in Sobernheim which is not as famous as Bockenau or Niederhausen but that will change. Andi is putting Sobernheim on the map.
These are amongst the best values we sell. Especially with Stuart's reviews.
I don't know if many of you have had the 12 Domberg recently but I highly recommend opening a bottle as these are drinking terrific right now and starting to show the insane fruit Andi can get. It takes time though. I had '07 and '09 Marbach as well at the estate and they were both stunning. Age is this wine's friend. Now in 2019, he has made the best wines in his own style. Andi seems to contain the ripeness of the Nahe and express the thunderous minerality in a unique and striking way. There is a deft purity to these incredibly crafted wines. He also has rip roaring high acids like Muellen or Schätzel. He is using 100% spontaneous yeasts and ages his wines in old large oak barrels. They have a texture to them that is like nothing else. Dense and pithy but so elegant and weightless and with an electric acid backbone. So detailed. I love drinking these wines and they last incredibly long. Andi made his most elegant and weightless wines in 2019 and he crushed it and made massive wines in 2019 that will need longer than normal. He has outdone himself in 2019. He has a longer elevage than most and his "GG" wines have just been bottled in the last few months. Along with Martin Muellen in the Mosel, Andi Schneider is making Grand Cru wines for a song. A pittance. The prices are criminal as Andi is NOT in the VDP which means his wines are seriously underpriced. Producers making world class wine from Grand Cru sites that are not in the VDP are where the value is at in German Dry Riesling today.
The Wines
Up first is the 2019 K.H. Schneider Domberg Riesling Trocken for $29.99 a bottle on a 4-Pack and $28.99 on a 12 bottle case.. This is Grosses Gewachs/Grand Cru quality from a site that Andi is making famous. It is from very poor soils (60-80 cm, slate/quartzite) which makes the vines struggle and produce better, more complex tasting fruit. Small grapes are harvested and they come in very compact bunches which gives the wines great aromas and serious structure, density and backbone. I adore this site as it’s likely the site that yields the most mineral wines we sell in all of Germany. And in 19 it’s has reached its magnum opus and the true potential of this “great nobody ever heard of it” GG site has been realized.
The nose is just ethereal. Beautiful. Super mineral, earthy and rocky with loads of wet stones. Some fresh cut grass and smoke only add to the allure. A hint of fruit but dominated by its quarry like minerality. It's very refined and precise nose. After air it gets going oh boy does is get going. Intensely complex, funky and mineral as par for the course for Domberg. The geekiest of the KH Schneider wines. Unreal mineral perfume. Wide open. Dripping with liquid minerality. Startlingly pure aromas that are focused and vivid. Sea air, confectionary aromas. Just amazing.
The palate is just an exercise in brilliance and restraint. It's so elegant and refined and has a straight linear quality like fine edges on a piece of modern architecture. The palate is the best German engineering has to offer and there is much more clear-cut Riesling fruit apparent than on the nose. Palate is a monster! Tight, focused and lemony. Real grip and focus. Just so linear. Closed yet has unlimited potential. Such a funky nose. Funky but clean. Not like young Schafer-Frohlich. Almost tannic and really has intense mineral grip. Finish is a bit clipped right now but has persistence but needs to fill in. Nose is more floral and lemony with air. Just stunning. It has the intense acidity one expects but also vivid citrus and white cherry fruit that develops with air. There is also beautiful minerality that really is the star of this wine. Amazing persistence and grip. Extraordinary balance. Complexity and pitter patter tannins. Salty. The length is very impressive and the mineral persistence makes this wine just so special. It is so mineral you will not believe and the massive mineral concentration is off the charts. Unreal wine. This is not a fruit bomb Riesling but lithe, lacey, expressive and sparse.
9.4 to 9.5 overnight. This is the best Domberg yet. It’s complex, chewy, compact and mineral. Finishes very dry and has so much of a rock quarry vibe. So fresh and such insane length. Terrific. Some mild citrus on the finish. Super deep and voluptuous. Very sappy and pure. Juicy and very very long.
This got 94 points from Stuart Pigott but got a 95 from me, but it had to air 24 hours to go from 94 to 95. His review is below.
“So intense is the minerality of this dry white, from an unknown, great vineyard, that already the nose is positively salty. Then comes the stony and vibrant palate with a surprising lightness of touch, in spite of the radical flavors. Excellent aging potential. Drink or hold.”
94 points, Stuart Pigott
Next up I have the most of and is one of the top young Auslesen I've ever tasted, the 2019 K.H. Schneider Felsenberg Auslese for $30.99 each for a 500 ml bottle on a 4-pack. Works out to just over 3 full bottles I think. It's the perfect size as 750 ML is too much and 375 ML is too little. This wine is stunning and does come from the great Grand Cru site Felsenberg that Donnhoff and Schafer-Frohlich have made famous. I love Felsenberg as it is so minerally. Maybe with Domberg the most minerally Grand Cru wine out of the Nahe. Halenberg is also mineral as well. It's splitting porphyry here anyway. The rocks in Felsenberg are mainly volcanic which gives this wine an all together different character than Andi's more fruity Marbach and mineral but lean Domberg. This Felsenberg is opulent as most wines from Felsenberg are. That combo of opulence and minerality makes this Grand Cru site special.
This has a brilliant nose. Unreal nose. Just dripping with honeyed apricot and peach fruit. Herbs. Such focus. Super minerals. Wow. Huge rapier-like acidity. Wow. Insane concentration and acids. Green Apple and peaches. But also closed and only showing 15% or so of its potential. Huge inner mouth aromas and great, deep minerality and more of that tart sweet fruit thing. But also aggressively penetrating minerals. So long. So pure. So elegant. So filigreed. Unreal depth and richness and has an icing like fruit soak. This got 96 points from Stuart Pigott and his review is below.
“Where’s the lobster thermidor? Here’s an Auslese for dry-wine drinkers! Great balance of salty minerality and grapefruit freshness drive it along at a brisk clip. Super mineral, bright finish that makes it very food-friendly. Drink or hold.” - 96 points, Stuart Pigott.
Up next I’ve got one of the most insane Spatkese values ever. The 2019 KH Schneider Domberg Riesling Spatlese for $22.99 a bottle on a 4-pack and $21.99 a bottle on a 12 Bottle Case. This is 95 points from Stuart Pigott and man oh man is this a screaming Mimi of a value. Such a worthy case purchase.
Wow. Huge tropical and cherry blast on the nose. Superb minerality and an almost confectionary quality. Just terrific rock quarry like minerality out of this site. Super, super aromatic. Truly put you on notice aromas. Always a steal. Heaven on this nose. Like a cross between spree and sweet tarts. Just amazing.
Palate has stunning concentration and purity. Huge acids and such a driving, forceful minerality. Finishes mineral and dry. Stunning depth and structure. Some lime zest in the nose with air. So complete and awesome. Elegant. Rich yet superbly mineral and delicious bright and lifting acids.
On Day 2 it was clean as a whistle. Unreal minerals. Spice and lime. Juicy and clean. Lovely density, energy and mineral wash. Stupid pure and balanced. Unreal deliciousness. Awesome peach and apricot. So focused.
Below is the 95 point score from Stuart Pigott.
“Did somebody say foie gras? Stunning white-peach and Asian-pear nose, this is at once succulent, concentrated and elegant. The balance of sweetness and mineral freshness is spot on. Long, very clean lemon-mineral finish. Drink or hold.”- 95 points Stuart Pigott
2019 K.H. Schneider Domberg Riesling Trocken - $31.99
($119.96 4-Pack, $347.88 12 bottle case {$28.99!})
2019 K.H. Schneider Felsenberg Auslese 500ML - $32.99
($123.96 4-Pack)
2019 K.H. Schneider Domberg Riesling Spatlese - $24.99
($91.96 4-Pack, $263.88 12 bottle case {$21.99})
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