Winemaker Notes
This wine is a perfect meeting of petals and stones, like plum trees blossoming on a rocky escarpment. Barely 12% alcohol, it leads with fruit and then the tenderest reminder of mineral and then a jot of white hyacinth, all in a heart-renderingly cool creamy texture.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Very complex nose of white chocolate, white peaches and fresh herbs. Sleek and very finely delineated, this is a super-elegant dry Rheingau riesling with a long, cool finish that ripples with notes of fennel and parsley. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Künstler's 2020 Hochheim Kirchenstück GG VDP. Grosse Lage opens clear, pure and fresh with an intense white fruit bouquet that is still more reductive than many of the other crus, though. Lush and refined on the palate, this is an elegant, vibrantly fresh, finely textured and balanced Kirchenstück that reveals an uplifting, persistent, saline and juicy finish that indicates great aging potential, even though it's already a great pleasure drinking the 2020 today. Also from its moderate weight and its lingering salty purity, this is a rather classic Hochheim Riesling despite the warm vintage. 12.5% stated alcohol. Screw cap. Rating: 93+
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.
Practically one long and bucolic hillside along the northern bank of the Rhein River, the Rheingau stretches the entirety of the river’s east to west spread from Hocheim to Rüdesheim.
Variations in elevation, soil types, and proximity to the Rhine cause great diversity in Rheingau Riesling. Some of the better Rieslings in warmer years come from the cooler and breezier sites at higher elevations. In cooler years, sites closer to the river may perform better.
In the village of Rüdesheim, slopes are steep and soils are stony slate with quartzite; Rieslings are rich and spicy, intense in stone fruit and show depth and character with age. World class Rieslings come from farther east on the river through Geisenheim, Johannisberg, Winkel, Oestrich and past Erbach as well, where soils of loess, sand, and marl alternate. Long-living, floral-driven and mineral-rich Rieslings come from the best of these sites.
Rheingau growers became early activists in promoting the dry style of Riesling, low yields and the classification of top vineyards, or Erstes Gewächs (first growths). Proximity to the metropolitan markets of Mainz, Wiesbaden, and Frankfurt keeps Rheingau in high reputation. While dry wines are the style here, Rheingau isn’t short of some amazing Auslesen, Beerenauslesen, and Trockenbeerenauslesen.
Rheingau doesn’t mess with many other grapes—in fact 79% of its total area is dedicated to Riesling. But it produces some fine Pinot noir, especially concentrated in Assmannshausen, a bit farther west from Rüdesheim.