The Thorle Brothers Produce a Masterpiece in 2018 - 96 Points for the 2017 - the 18 Is Better - Miraculous Density, Minerality and Balance (and Inexpensive) VERY IMPORTANT

The Thorle Brothers
 - The Boy Geniuses of the Rheinhessen
 - Until Now, More Famous for their Epic Pinot Noirs
 - In 2017 and 2018, the Whites Have Burst Through
 - In the Conversation for Top White Winemakers in Germany in 2017/2018

2018 Thörle Holle Riesling
 - A Level of Complexity I Find in the Great Dry Wines of the World
 - His Most Dense and Complex White Wine
 - Nose: Citrus Oil, Dried Stone Fruits, Oodles of Minerals
 - Opulence, Power and Density of a Great Grand Cru White 
 - 96 Points for 2017 ... 2018 A World Better
 - Very Few Winemakers Anywhere Can Marry This Level of Density with this Level of Balance and Minerality
 - This Is a Very, Very Important Offer...

2018 Thörle Saulheimer Kalkstein Riesling Trocken
 - 93 Points For The 2017
 - 1er Cru But Really a Baby Grosses Gewachs
 - Profoundly Harmonious
 - White Cherry Balanced with Clear Minerality
 - Dense But Juicy

I'm going to keep the introduction here brief.  The Thorle brothers have taken the estate from a producer of grapes to one of the very good estates in Germany.  They have been more prominent on the red side, scoring well in tastings against Burgundies twice or more the price.  The whites were very, very good and incredible values.  In 2017 and now 2018, they have broken through the roof and are in the conversation for top white winemakers in Germany.  Time will tell if they can repeat this consistently but I'm only offering 2018s today, some for the purpose of today's E-Mail - it doesn't matter.

The 2018 Vintage
I will scream it from the rooftops. The 2018 Rheinhessen wines are benchmarks. I have not tasted a vintage this fine for whites ever. They are breathtaking wines. They are also selling out in Germany. 

Thörle 
In the small village of Saulheim the Thörle brothers are quietly making some of the most profound wines in the Rheinhessen.

The three GC Rieslings they make are tiered.
 - The Schlossberg is mineral, precise and energetic.
 - The Probstey is deep, ripe and mineral
 - The Hölle is this complete beautiful stunning sphere of a wine.

We have 4 top Rheinhessen producers.  I would say that Thorle is like our Martin Müllen of the Rheinhessen.
 - Huge scores,
 - Incredible quality and
 - Bargain basement prices. 

What I love is that they get that stunning fruit and density but do not allow it to take over the wine

and make it boring - they still have that tight acidity and focused minerality to keep the wine on a line.  That is what great winemakers do   And that is what makes great wines age into something magical.  These are exhilarating, mineral-driven, world class wines for very little money and the 18s are maybe the greatest Riesling vintage for Thörle yet.

The Wines
Today we have the 2018 Thörle Holle "GG" for $45.99 a bottle on a 4-pack. This is a Fass 4-3-1 which means buy 4, cellar 3 and drink 1.  The 18 Hölle is by far the best Riesling I have ever had from this site and from the Thörle brothers. It's just an experience. The wine is glorious and it really is just a brilliant site. It's very limestoney and cool. It has just the perfect pitch. The 18 is one of those wines where every sip is unreal. From the first to the last and in that period it is like 40 different wines. Or 30, depending on how fast you drink it. 

The 2018 Thorle GG is so insane.  But what separates this wine is that there is an ethereal complex quality like Schonfels, Scharzhofberger, Pettenthal and Frauenberg. It really has a level of complexity that exceeds what you normally find in the great dry wines of Germany.  As expected this is more mineral-driven and tighter than the Probstey. Cooler site and mostly limestone.

Nose is clean and airy with lovely minerality. It's a bit aromatically closed initially but it has a hidden depth just hinted at but it does get there with air. It is monstrously incredible. It's obvious as soon as you crack it open. The nose is just stunning. The nose has an evocative, deep mineral and huge florals to start with a stunning confectionary layer that swoops in like a SF fog. The minerality from the dense limestone soils in the Holle give the wine a brilliant aromatic lift once it gets going.

Palate shows the majestic power and minerality of the great Hölle. Really dense and opulent with amazing texture and just electric acid and minerality. Extraordinary purity and freshness. Great mouthfeel, piquant yet lacey, intense and very concentrated and mineral. Terrific energy that could propel rocket fusion. Wow. Incredible balance and this is a dense packed Riesling that can age 15+ years easy. Dense and concentrated and so young. But so awesome. Wait 5 years.

On Day 2 it was even better. Airy and mineral with driving lemony pithiness and superb airiness. Deep tangerine and tangelo hints as well. Palate is impossibly complex and dense with wonderful elegance and huge flavor impact. Very Stoney finish with incredible energy and precision. Lovely lemon and sweet grapefruit.  Unreal structure and just mind bogglingy mineral! So pure. Unreal depth and concentration. What power and poise. The finish is long, complex and very mineral.  Stunning balance. Long and ridiculously juicy with just insane length. The dissipation on the finish is also another character of top wines that this shows. The density, sap and power are all impressive but the silkiness that ties it all together is what sets this wine apart. It is also so straight and linear. Compared to their other two Grand Cru sites the Holle's temperature is higher on average than Schlossberg yet is also more mineral than the great old site, Probstey.

Up next I have another perfect 2018  Rheinessen Fass 1er Cru wine. The 2018 Thörle Saulheimer Kalkstein Riesling Trocken can be had for $24.99 on a 4-pack. This is as about as perfect an Ortsweine as I've had as it truly functions as a Grand Cru but on a smaller scale. One of the best wines that really gives one a sense of what Thörle can do at the Grand Cru level but on a 1er Cru budget. I don't call many wines baby GGs but this is truly one of them. It's like if you took Probstey/Schlossberg and Hölle and miniaturized it with some old hokey 60s science fiction movie technology then you have this wine. 

Almost a GG like nose. Complex stones, citrus and stunning fresh air minerality.  Incredible nose out of the gates let's you know you are in rare QPR air. Classic confectionary Rheinhessen is what I call it.  Complex stones, citrus and stunning fresh air minerality.  2018 aromas are so so great. And vivid.

Palate is huge meyer lemon and lime with insane pithiness and juiciness and just terrific minerality, precision and depth. White cherries and beautiful, striking and clear minerality. Complex palate with an amazing mouthfeel.  Palate has huge Meyer lemon and lime with insane pithiness and juiciness and just terrific minerality, precision and depth. It's quite profound how harmonious this wine is.


2018 offers really sensational textures which is not something many Riesling lovers or critics speak about. Crunchy and long with a certain roundness that does not take away from the huge acid or the structure. Awesome texture and crunch and complex minerals on the finish. Just a brilliant wine and one that is so good now but can age 10 years.  The juicy mineral density is unreal for a wine at this price point. Thunderous and nimble yet very present acidity and all the finesse. Like 1er Cru White Burgundy quality ... for $24.99! The wine is what I am all about. Juicy, elegant and has more phenolic intensity than your average Spatlese Trocken.

2018 Thorle Holle Riesling "GG" - $47.99 ($183.96 4-pack)  

(*Including tariff of $5.09)

2018 Thorle Saulheimer Kalkstein Riesling "1er Cru" - $26.99 

($99.96 4-pack) (*Including tariff of $2.33)