Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
A subtle Spätlese riesling blended from sites around Keidrich Gräfenberg, this excels in the energy it transmits. It’s partly a quality of the fruit, zesty and fresh in its lime-and-herb flavors, and partly the way it turns that juicy, fresh fruit into head-filling, complex, floral aromas. As delicate as it feels, it’s also firm, a candidate for the cellar, where it’s likely to grow in expression.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
From the Wasseros and pre-selections of the neighboring cru vineyards, the 2016 Rheingau Riesling Spätlese displays a clear, fresh and lovely bouquet of white stone fruits. It has a reductive, elegant style. On the palate, this is a lush, light and finessed Spätlese that is graceful, fresh and enormously piquant if not racy. The finish is stimulatingly mineral and salty. This is a beautiful expression of the Kiedrich terroir.
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Wine Spectator
A rich, lively style, with details of cream framing the core of lemon cake, roasted pineapple and baked apple flavors. Smoky and spicy elements fill the finish, which is persistent and inviting. Drink now through 2030.
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.