Winemaker Notes
Dark stone aromas accompany yellow fruits and savory green herbs (think marjoram, basil, etc) in a burnished, layered, extremely complex wine walking the line consistently between power and elegance.
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2022 Riesling Nackenheimer Rothenberg Grosses Gewächs is on the rockiest formation of the Permian rhyolitic sandstone. The nose opens with a touch of reduction that bleeds into the savory, stony spiciness that reminds me of potentilla and St. John's Wort alongside citrus zest. An ethereal edge of lemon becomes more intense with air. The palate is almost salty at first, taut, tight, fine, graceful and powerful. Very concentrated, with a real phenolic dimension, the 2022 is utterly mouth-watering and surprisingly sprightly. That sense of salt gets you. It's reminiscent of preserved, salted lemon. (Bone-dry)
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
From Johannes Hasselbach's second vintage, the 2014 Rothenberg Riesling GG opens with an intense, stony, very elegant and crunchy bouquet of crushed stones and herbal notes intermingled with bright and minty Riesling aromas. Dense and lush but fresh and finely bitter on the pure and saline palate, this is a vivacious, rather lean and finely tannic Rothenberg that is slowly opening up now and reveals some notes of beginning maturity. It has good tension and thrill on the finish. 12.5% stated alcohol.
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.
