My Trip to Germany redux: Pt XXI- Rheingau with Gunter Kunstler

Gunter Kunstler is a talker. Tells lots of stories with a very deliberate delivery and is a blast to taste with. Mr. Kunstler is also making some of the best dry wines in the Rheingau with almost a Mosel edge to them. This was an eye-opening tasting that introduced me to two of my favorite dry wines in all of Germany, the Holle Erstes Gewachs and the Kirchenstuck Erstes Gewachs. It was a rainy and foggy day in late August 2006 and there was some dissarray as Gunter just moved his winemaking facility and office to a new location and there was lots of painters and workers around. That was easily forgotten as the wine were poured.


2004 Pinot Noir Dry (Tradition) - An earthy, herbaceous nose reminiscient of Savigny-Les-Beaune. Palate is crisp and juicy with very ripe red fruits. The purity is nice and there is a sprucey note on the finish. Very nice in a classical Rheingau style.

2003 Reichestal Pinot Noir - A very pretty aromatic nose with mineral and cranberry but the palate did not come through for me with too mich fat and fruit and not enough acidity. It had major 2003-itis with stewy fruit.

2004 Reichestal Pinot Noir Dry "R" - Very pretty nose of fruit, spice and earth. Nice ripeness and a silky tetxure but bitter on the finish.

2004 Reichestal RR Spatburgunder - Closed nose with some hints o f wet earth. Hard and closed on the palate with not much going on. Judgement deferred.


2005 Stielweg Riesling Trocken "Alte Reben" - This is such a great wine and one of my favorite 2005's. Very mineral nose with grilled nuts, flowers, grass notes and a perfume element. Palate is ripe and crunchy with loads of peach flesh and mineral tones. Excellent long, tactile finish. Clingy wine that has years ahead of it.

1993 Stielweg Riesling Trocken "Alte Reben" - This bottle proved to me that this wine ages beautifully. Some slight reduction on the nose but that went away quickly to reveal minerals, dried stone fruits, petrol, nuts and apricot. Incredible vivid aromas and you could tell that this was gonna be a concentrated wine. The palate was great. Concentrated, very complex, structured with an amazing clarity anbd a finish of fleshy citrus fruits. Truly beguiling stuff and shows how good 1993 was in the Rheingau.

2005 Domdechenay Riesling Trocken - A dynamite wine from a seldom seen site but a Kunstler specialty. Huge fruit-driven nose of vineyard peach, pineapple and tropical mineral notes. Palate is tightly coiled with great concentration and complexity with a long finish that is totally dry. Needs time but immensely promising. Good luck finding this one.


1997 Domdechenay Riesling Trocken - Very mineral nose with peach and white flowers. Palate is ripe with beautiful elegance. Really light as a feather but there is power there. Concentrated minerality and beautiful delineation and detailed flavors of honeyed stone fruits and tea leaf. Definetly entering maturity right now and will hold for probabyl 5 more years. I have had three bottles in the past year and they all were beautiful.

2005 Kirchenstuck Grosses Gewachs - A wonderfull salty, minerally nose with loads of stone fruits (peach, tangerine). Hauntingly elegant with nice concentration and a lithe feeling in the mouth. Quite rich in the middle and the backend. Great finish. A wow wine and such a bargain in the world of Erstes Gewachs.

2005 Holle Grosses Gewachs - If Kirchenstuck is all about elegance then Holle is about power. Steely, mineral and powerfully tropical and mineral nose. This is ripe, dense and extremely concentrated. Really sleek package but with great mid-palate amplitude and fleshy stone fruits. This is a wow wine.


2005 Reichestal Riesling Kabinett - This was good, solid if uncomplicated Kabinett. A bit ripe due to the vintage with a nice mineral, floral and tropical nose. Peachy and dense palate with good density and an ensuing smack of acidity.

2005 Kirchenstuck Spatlese - Really vivid mineral nose with big-tyme flamboyant tropical canned fruit aromas. Decadent nose. Palate is fleshy, sleek and long. Excellent but a touch less refined than the dry stuff.

2003 Holle Riesling Auslese GK - Not a bad wine from a vintage I have much maligned but they are coming into the balance in the bottle as of recent. Granted this was last year but this still was good. Seemed a bit advanced but was pure and ripe on the palate with great concentration and intensity. There was some petrol on nose and in the mouth which made me question if it is not on the fast track.


2003 Stielweg Riesling TBA GK - Also seems a touch advanced. Full of deep and thick 2003 botrytis. Marmalade and leaves with intense botrytis. I liked this alot but this needs 20-30 years to become a bit more civilized.