Winemaker Notes
The vines were planted over 50 years ago. The loamy soil gives this wine a lot of elegance and round acidity. This Riesling was fermented in big traditional oak barrels.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
From 56-year-old vines, the 2020 Hochheimer Stielweg Riesling Alte Reben VDP. Erste Lage offers a coolish, pure and refined yet also intense and complex nose with spicy and floral notes as well as lemon aromas. On the palate, this is a rich and intense yet pure and vital dry Riesling with a long, intense and complex finish that reveals a serious mineral and phenolic structure. For true wine lovers, Künstler's Stielweg is one of the domaine's icon wines (or hidden gems): it is insanely intense and finessed but always vibrantly fresh and stimulating in its mineral drive and tension. From really old vines, the 2020 has been an extraordinary vintage. 13% stated alcohol. Screw cap.
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.