Winemaker Notes
This wine has a fragrance that makes you want to cry, and then dance. It's pure Dönnhoff in its sanguine Buddhist peace. The prayer-flags whip in a stiff wind and the frost clings to each bit of shade, yet on the hillside the sun is shining, and getting closer. The later picking has more lavish fruit, mellower acids and more opulence. A cuvée of the two wines will be bottled.
Brücke is predestined for Eiswein, as its warm situation next to the Nahe gives ripe grapes and yet the way it sits in the valley takes the sun away early in the Fall, and what has been one of the warmer vineyards suddenly becomes one of the colder ones.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2002 Riesling Eiswein Oberhauser Brucke is a grand slam home run for Donnhoff. It is so intense, so powerful, and so complex as to instill fear in the taster. Its apricot and peach cobbler aromas lead to a jellied core of cassis, raspberries, syrupy slate, and oodles of spices. It is simply amazing that a wine of this richness, ripeness, and depth can retain perfect definition, grip, and refinement. What is truly terrifying, however, is that Donnhoff produced a three-star Eiswein from the same vineyard in 2002, one he presumably considers better than this sublime nectar. Part of me is grateful that I was unable to taste it, however, as I have only 100 points with which to work. Bravo! Projected maturity: 2015-2040+.
Riesling possesses a remarkable ability to reflect the character of wherever it is grown while still maintaining its identity. A regal variety of incredible purity and precision, this versatile grape can be just as enjoyable dry or sweet, young or old, still or sparkling and can age longer than nearly any other white variety. Somm Secret—Given how difficult it is to discern the level of sweetness in a Riesling from the label, here are some clues to find the dry ones. First, look for the world “trocken.” (“Halbtrocken” or “feinherb” mean off-dry.) Also a higher abv usually indicates a drier Riesling.
