An unprecedented array of ultra-high-quality dry Rieslings from the 2005 vintage were assembled for "Premiere Grosses Gewächs 2006," a two-day press preview held in Wiesbaden.
Photo: VDP. DIE PRADIKATSWEINGUTER
German Revolution -Dry Riesling poised for global glory
By Steve PitcherOn its face, the 96-year-old trade association Verband Deutscher Prädikats- und Qualitätsweingüter (Association of German Prädikat Wine Estates) appears as a quality-control organization dedicated to both encouraging its members to make the finest possible wines and to promoting those wines to the public.
In fact, the VDP, or VDP-Die Prädikatsweingüter as the organization prefers to be known, is a powerful agent for revolutionary change in the German wine industry, as evidenced by "Premiere Grosses Gewächs 2006," a two-day sneak preview held in Wiesbaden in late August. A vast array of its members' ultra-high-quality dry Rieslings from the excellent 2005 vintage had been assembled for critical comparative evaluation by more than 100 international wine journalists.
When incorporated in an elite estate wine, the dual concepts of dry-style Riesling and classified sites equivalent to Burgundian grand cru or Bordeaux first growth are, indeed, revolutionary for Germany. Made up of VDP vintner associations in most of the country's 13 wine regions (VDP-Rheingau, VDP-Pfalz, VDP-Nahe, etc.), and headed by the policy-making, national management and business office led by President Michael Prinz zu Salm-Salm (proprietor of the Schloss Wallhausen estate in the Nahe), the 200-member VDP has been, since 2001, refining an internal vineyard classification model that originated in 1984. In the process, the organization also developed exacting production standards for dry Rieslings in order to compete with the world's finest white wines.
Until fairly recently, most German Rieslings in the U.S. market ranged in style from fruity QbAs, Kabinetts and Spätlesen, to noble sweet Beerenauslesen (BAs), Eisweins and Trockenbeerenauslesen (TBAs), all of which balanced varying levels of fruity sweetness with vibrant acidity unique to German-grown Rieslings. If the American consumer wanted full-bodied, dry, estate Riesling with a European pedigree, the choices, for the most part, hailed
from Alsace and, more recently and in smaller quantity, Austria.
Yet many prestigious German estate producers have been crafting trocken, or dry style, versions of the same fruity wines all along, principally to satisfy the home market's insatiable demand for dry wines of all varieties. German consumers, for the most part, are content to see the fruity wines exported to the U.S., UK and Asian markets so long as they can drink the dry stuff. Reinforcing this scenario, major U.S. importers have been reluctant to rock the boat by offering much in the way of dry German Rieslings in their portfolios.
That reluctance stems from the fact that there is a considerable range in quality evident in German trocken Rieslings, primarily because until recently, there hadn't been a widely accepted standard for producing these wines, other than keeping the residual sugar at nine grams per liter (0.9% when measured by percentage) or less. And some regions, notably the cooler-climate Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, are less well situated to produce trocken wines because of the difficulty in achieving the requisite ripeness levels, compared to warmer regions, such as the Pfalz, where excellent trocken wines are far more numerous vintage after vintage.
At the high-quality end of German wine production, there is a longing to compete in the international dry wine market with Riesling, a varietal considered by many as the most noble of all white wines. The problem, however, is that Riesling, unlike Chardonnay, for example, comes in a range of styles depending on when it's harvested, and even sophisticated consumers erroneously assume that it's invariably sweet.
If only there were a way to convince the connoisseur that a German Riesling is harmoniously dry in the international style and the product of an outstanding, officially designated vineyard with a pedigree equivalent to the best to be found anywhere - so the German thinking goes -
its makers could compete with the world's best.
It appears that's now within the realm of possibility.
German producers have long been envious of their French counterparts' AOC vineyard classification system in the country's various appellations that, for example, authorizes a Burgundian producer of Chardonnay from the Chevalier-Montrachet vineyard near the village of Puligny-Montrachet to note "grand cru" on the label, symbolizing the highest quality category; a Chardonnay from the Genevrières vineyard, near the village of Meursault, is entitled to be designated as a premier cru, the second-highest quality level.
While many German vineyards have achieved renown for their distinct terroir and fruit quality, there is currently no official or legal classification system equivalent to the French AOC, except, to some extent, in the Rheingau. In fact, German lawmakers, with the passage of the Wine Law of 1971, diluted the legal and traditional significance of such sites by permitting so-called quality wines (Qualitätsweine) to be produced from any vineyard site within the German wine-growing regions. This was based on the "politically correct" fiction that all vineyards are equal.
The Wine Law established two types of vineyard sites: Einzellage (individual site) and Grosslage (collective vineyard site, often including vineyards of many wine villages, the particular products of which may vary wildly in terms of quality). As a result, the commercial success of such Grosslage wines as Piesporter Michelsberg and Niersteiner Gutes Domtal, for example, undermined the reputation of wines from truly great Einzellage vineyard sites such as Piesporter Goldtröpfchen and Niersteiner Pettenthal. Finding no federal parliamentary relief from the mess created by the 1971 Wine Law, German vintners resorted to action at the regional and state level.
The first and, so far, only vineyard classification model enacted into law was that of the Rheingau growing region in the state of Hesse. Developed in 1994 and signed into law by the Hessian state minister of agriculture in 2000, it permitted the use of the term "Erstes Gewächs" (pronounced "airstus gaywex" - literally "first growth") on the label of a Riesling produced from a vineyard on the classified list; unclassified vineyard names are not permitted on Rheingau labels. So, unlike the Burgundy model, there is no equivalent of a premier cru or lesser-quality level - it's more reminiscent of the Alsace model, which has grands crus at the top and basic "Appellation Alsace Contrôlée" for everything else. >
Moreover, the Riesling must have at least a spätlese ripeness level at harvest and must be vinified dry, meaning, for the Rheingau, that it may not contain more than 13 grams per liter (or 1.3% by volume when measured by percentage) residual sugar. Fruity and noble sweet Rieslings from the same vineyard, if any, are labeled by the vineyard name (excluding the designation Erstes Gewächs) and the Prädikat (distinction) level - Kabinett, Spätlese, Auslese, Beerenauslese, Eiswein or Trockenbeerenauslese.
These criteria were developed over several years by VDP-Rheingau and CHARTA, a Rheingau vintners association whose members included many VDP estates; the two organizations merged in 1999 under the name VDP-Rheingau. The classified Erstes Gewächs vineyards total 2,797 acres out of the Rheingau's 7,974 acres of planted vines.
To be entitled to use the Erstes Gewächs designation, a VDP member's access to grapes in a classified vineyard is just the beginning. Grapes harvested for Erstes Gewächs are restricted to a yield of 50 hectoliters per hectare (2.85 tons per acre) and must be hand harvested. Finally, the wine must pass an exacting VDP sensory examination. Of the 55 wines of the 1999 vintage submitted for the initial release of Rheingau Erstes Gewächs in 2000, 29 made the grade.
The Rheingau system of dry Riesling production, coupled with a regional vineyard classification, served as the starting point for what has become the national standard for such wines established by the VDP for its members. According to VDP President Prinz Michael, who spoke at the August tasting, "Since 2001, the VDP has refined its internal classification model step by step, taking into consideration recommendations and comments made by customers and by members of the trade and press." There were also the views and aspirations of 200 VDP winery members from 13 quite distinctive growing regions to be taken into account as well. It's a process the outsider might equate to herding cats.
"Just as 'Rome was not built in a day,'" he continued, "the Wine Law-related problems that have emerged over the past 35 years cannot be rectified in one step. Furthermore, the VDP must also work within the existing legal framework - especially concerning federal labeling laws."
Foremost in the minds of the VDP leadership were two goals: The first, according to Prinz Michael, was to restore significance to the names of Germany's finest vineyard sites by producing wines from those sites that impart discernable terroir qualities and to do so while adhering to strict quality criteria. Total VDP-membership acreage amounts to some 9,150 acres, just under four percent of the German vineyard. The second was "To help return Germany's outstanding dry wines to their previous - renowned - status," Prinz Michael emphasized.
The second goal requires some explanation. Most authorities agree that during the 19th and through the first half of the 20th centuries, German Rieslings - up to and including the ripeness category today called Auslese - were routinely vinified dry, except in years when botrytis was abundant and noble sweet Rieslings could also be produced. As countless German vintners have confirmed, "Hock," as such dry Rieslings were then known, commanded prices equal to or higher than those for first growth Bordeaux or grand cru Burgundy (Wilhelm Weil, director of the Robert Weil estate in the Rheingau, can even produce restaurant menus of the period that substantiate the claim).
Stainless steel tanks were unknown then, and Riesling was fermented and aged in large, neutral wood casks called fuders. It was common practice to leave the wine in cask for up to four years to round it out and to develop bouquet. Technology to reliably make Riesling in the fruity styles we know today simply didn't exist until the latter half of the 20th century.
So, dry Riesling meticulously produced from the best sites framed the organizational objective. The VDP process proceeded.
The first step was to agree on a term designating the finest dry Rieslings from a great vineyard site. As the Rheingau already had the rights to the term "Erstes Gewächs" for such wines, the VDP coined and obtained legal rights to the equivalent term "Grosses Gewächs" (literally "great growth").
From the first "Premiere Grosses Gewächs" event in 2002, which presented 108 wines from 78 VDP-member estates, to last year's at which 239 wines of various varieties from 104 estates were assembled, "Grosses Gewächs" served as the VDP term to designate the finest dry Rieslings from a great vineyard site. But it didn't quite work, to some extent because of the confusion caused by the parallel Rheingau Erstes Gewächs designation, and also because in the Mosel region the term "Erste Lage" was being used. (Why they didn't simply call all of them Grand Cru in the spirit of 21st-century European Union and be done with it eludes me.)
Out of this jumble came clarification this summer. VDP "Erste Lage" (pronounced air-sta la-ga - literally "top site") became the umbrella term in all regions for all wines of VDP members of the top category, especially Riesling. Because this isn't a term recognized - as yet - by the German federal government for labeling purposes, it is designated by a logo legally registered by the VDP of a superimposed German numeral 1 and a capital L.
The logo appears on the label and/or is embossed on the bottle, and stands for "Origin from one of the finest vineyards in Germany," Prinz Michael noted. "All wines that are designated VDP Erste Lage will be produced according to the same strict, terroir-oriented criteria already established by the VDP," he explained. "These production criteria guarantee a wine of outstanding quality. The Erste Lage logo on the bottle and/or label stands for Germany's grand cru wines."
VDP Erste Lage dry wines are designated as Grosses Gewächs (for example, Goldloch Grosses Gewächs, referring to the Goldloch vineyard near the village of Dorsheim in the Nahe). "As of vintage 2006, these wines will all be in a dry style," Prinz Michael continued, meaning a maximum residual sugar level of nine grams per liter (or 0.9% by volume). The ripeness level at harvest must be at least that of Spätlese.
The Rheingau great dry Rieslings are designated by the classified vineyard name, but called Erstes Gewächs and accompanied by three Romanesque arches on the label, as prescribed under the Hesse state wine statute. According to Christian Witte, administrator of the historic estate domain of Schloss Johannisberg in the Rheingau, that region's Erstes Gewächs Rieslings are still permitted to contain up to 13 grams (1.3%) residual sugar, only a tiny nudge above the nine grams per liter (0.9%) trocken definition applicable elsewhere in Germany.
The back label contains all the information current German law requires to be disclosed about the bottled contents, and there the wine is designated "Qualitätswein" (a wine of quality). In addition to being hand harvested and meeting the aforemen-tioned yield restrictions, all such wines must pass stringent VDP quality-control evaluation, and may not be released until September 1 of the year following harvest. They are generally priced in the same range as grand cru and premier cru white Burgundy.
These wines comprise the top level of a three-tier quality pyramid. The second tier consists of the VDP Erste Lage fruity wines with natural sweetness, whose labels will be familiar to American fans of German Riesling, as they will indicate the classified vineyard source of the wine (for example, Goldtröpfchen) and the traditional Prädikat of the wine, from Kabinett through Trockenbeerenauslese. The Erste Lage logo appears on the label or bottle. The base of the pyramid encompasses Gutsweine and Ortsweine, which are basically an estate's house wines, none of which can have a vineyard cited on the label, but will indicate the name of the producer, the varietal and the village or regional source.
A controversial decision agreed upon at the 2006 VDP general meeting provides that classified vineyard sites that number among those in the top category will no longer be permitted to be used for wines in the second tier. "It's one category or the other, but not both," Prinz Michael asserted, "because Erste Lage sites are unique." The VDP has designated about 150 vineyards as Erste Lage, all owned, in whole or in part, by VDP-member wineries.
For vintage 2005, many producers made an Erste Lage Grosses Gewächs dry Riesling from a classified vineyard, as well as Prädikat wines - Spätlese, Auslese, BA, Eiswein and/or TBA - from the same vineyard. Under this rule, that would not be permitted from vintage 2006 on, at least on paper - a choice between dry and fruity would have to be made. It remains to be seen if this rule will prevail. According to Prinz Michael, "The goal is to implement these changes in all regions no later than 2015," so there's time for further reflection.
Having tasted virtually all the Grosses Gewächs/Erstes Gewächs dry Rieslings presented in Wiesbaden in August (with special attention paid to about 110 bottles available in the United States), as well as some Prädikat wines from the same vineyards by the same producers - notably Dönnhoff and Schloss Johannisberg - I find it hard to believe that a talented producer who can make a stunning range of Rieslings from one superb site would actually make such a choice among the wines for exclusive vineyard designation.
Helmut Dönnhoff seems to concur. "Some vineyards have a talent for producing grapes for dry-style Riesling. Felsenberg is such a vineyard for me [referring to the 62-acre, stony vineyard near the hamlet of Schlossböckelheim in the Upper Nahe]. And then, a part of a vineyard may be particularly suited for dry Riesling, while other parts of the same vineyard make great Prädikat wines, depending on the vintage. That's the case with Hermannshöhle," he explained during a post-tasting visit to the Hermann Dönnhoff estate in Oberhausen in the Nahe.
When Dönnhoff speaks, one tends to pay attention. He is arguably Germany's greatest winemaker, given the incredible grand cru sites he has available to him, including the aforementioned vineyards, as well as Oberhäuser Brücke (his monopole), Schlossböckelheimer Kupfergrube and Norheimer Kirschheck and Dellchen.
Although not every producer has this type of raw material with which to work, great strides have been made in the last five years. Yet much of what the VDP is doing is a work-in-progress. Prinz Michael touched on this reality, commenting that, "The goal of all these efforts on the part of the VDP is to ensure the future of top-quality German viticulture in producing handcrafted, culturally inspired, terroir-oriented wines, and at the same time, to preserve the great diversity of styles of German wines - unique in the world."
Observing that Germany has tremendous potential resources with its multitude of soil types and microclimates, as well as the dedication of its winegrowers, Prinz Michael said, "If we utilize these resources properly, we can guarantee the future of our estates and fulfill the growing desire for authentic pleasure within the realm of the great wines of the world."
My visit with Dönnhoff validated the Prinz's assertions. He had assembled a flight of 2005 Hermann Dönnhoff Rieslings for me that comprised all of the wines he produced from the 60-year-old Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle that year. I came away from the experience with the sense that I've found in his Grosses Gewächs Germany's Riesling equivalent of Le Montrachet. At the same time, the 2005 Spätlese, Auslese and Trockenbeerenauslese from the Hermannshöhle were equally impressive. Montrachet, while certainly an ethereal wine, doesn't offer such virtuosity.
Based in San Francisco, Contributing Editor Steve Pitcher is a 2003 recipient of the Merit Cross of the German Order of Merit. Awarded by the German President, the decoration is the highest tribute Germany can pay an individual for service to the nation. He can be reached via e-mail at wine2words@aol.com.
Tasting BAR
The wines that follow were the among those that scored highest out of some 110 Rieslings tasted open in Wiesbaden, Germany, on August 28 and 29 at the spa city's famous Kurhaus. U.S. retail prices, when noted, are approximate, and are based on importers' projections; generally, prices range between $45 and $80. Production figures were not disclosed, but they are inevitably small. None of the wines were released in Germany until September 1, and many won't arrive in the United States until 2007. The first word following the producer is the village (e.g., Forst) and then the vineyard name (e.g., Kirchenstück).
Bassermann-Jordan Forst Kirchenstück, 2005 Riesling Grosses Gewächs, Pfalz - $N/A: Effusive nose of fresh, lemony citrus and baked pineapple with a hint of flint. Broad, richly textured palate with excellent balancing acidity and complex flavors that replicate the nose. Finishes with a touch of minerality. Score: 94
A. Christmann Gimmeldingen Mandelgarten, 2005 Riesling Grosses Gewächs, Pfalz - $N/A: True-to-terroir nose of marzipan (Mandelgarten means almond orchard) and lemon blossom. Luscious, juicy and generous in the mouth with deep flavors that echo the nose, gaining a lightly toasty quality. A thoroughly delicious wine with refreshing acidity. Score: 93
Dr. Crusius Traisen Rotenfels, 2005 Riesling Grosses Gewächs, Nahe - $N/A: Forward slate scents yield to dried apricot and white peach with a floral note emerging with airing. Flavors snap immediately into focus, echoing the nose, framed in crisp acidity. Bold, yet elegant and quite distinctive. Score: 94
Dönnhoff Norheim Dellchen, 2005 Riesling Grosses Gewächs, Nahe - $N/A: Appealing, delicate scents of lemon blossom and red currant with a subtle nuttiness. Round, juicy and generous with laser-pure, mineral-infused flavors of citrus, apricot, peach and succulent pear buoyed by brisk acidity. Finishes long with notes of spice and minerals. An exciting, intellectual Riesling made from comparatively young (15-year-old) vines. Score: 94
Dönnhoff Norheim Hermannshöhle, 2005 Riesling Grosses Gewächs, Nahe - $75: Very complex nose opening with lemon blossom and white peach, picking up dried apricot and lemon zest with a mélange of white smoke and stone-washed minerality. Rich and equally complex in the mouth with monumental flavors promised by the nose, and balancing acidity. Finishes long and lovely with a lemon blossom emphasis. Simply awesome; an intense, driven and focused Riesling from 60-year-old vines rooted in a soil mixture of gray slate, volcanic elements and sandstone. Score: 96
Emrich-Schönleber Monzingen Halenberg, 2005 Riesling Grosses Gewächs, Nahe - $N/A: A pronounced slate - close to flintiness - enhances scents of citrus and apricot with toasted fennel seed, dried white peach and crystallized ginger emerging with airing. Flavors replicate the nose, exhibiting an exciting mineral shimmer and tangy acidity. A distinctive, very appealing Riesling. Score: 95
Keller Westhofen Morstein, 2005 Riesling Grosses Gewächs, Rheinhessen - $N/A: Quartz minerality and dried apricot define the nose. Juicy and richly textured with slate-infused flavors of apricot and white peach with palate-cleansing acidity. Score: 94
August Kessler Rüdesheim Berg Schlossberg, 2005 Riesling Erstes Gewächs, Rheingau - $N/A: Lovely, fragrant scents of verbena waft from the glass. Complex and layered flavors of lemon citrus, quince and dried apricot are deep and profound, extracting every last element of the terroir, including a note of red slate from this very steep, picturesque vineyard (crowned with a ruined castle) that overlooks the Rhein. Score: 94
Kühling-Gillot Nierstein Oelberg, 2005 Riesling Grosses Gewächs, Rheinhessen - $N/A: Earthy, petrol-like nose that's characteristic of this steep, south-facing vineyard laced with red slate. Bold and powerful on the palate, offering deep flavors of apricot, roasted lemon and a touch of loamy earth, buoyed by brisk acidity. Score: 93
Franz Künstler Hochheim Hölle, 2005 Riesling Erstes Gewächs, Rheingau - $80: A touch of fresh, loamy topsoil mingles with red currant and lemon zest on the nose. The broad, smooth palate shows plenty of finesse, displaying dazzling minerality and enhancing flavors of dried apricot and quince with fine acid balance. Score: 94
Franz Künstler Hochheim Kirchenstück, 2005 Riesling Erstes Gewächs, Rheingau - $70: More floral than the Hölle with lemon blossom and acacia scents, plus a touch of bay leaf. Enormous palate presence, like an organ flooding a cathedral with warm sound; complex flavors replicate the nose, broadened by stone fruits and balanced by crisp acidity. Score: 95
Messmer Weyher Michelsberg, 2005 Riesling Grosses Gewächs, Pfalz - $47: A blast of mineral emerges from the glass on first sniff, followed by ripe apricot, quince and sweet lemon, enhanced by a wisp of white smoke. Plush and generous on the palate with crisp acidity and complex flavors announced by the nose. Finishes with a trace of minerality. Score: 93
Müller-Catoir Haart "Breumel in den Mauern," 2005 Riesling Grosses Gewächs, Pfalz - $57: From a tiny parcel of the 82-acre Bürgergarten vineyard that bears a 19th-century name, this charming wine shows slatey minerality and a touch of acacia blossom in the nose. Broad and lushly textured on the palate, and brimming with tropical and stone fruit, accented by citrus notes, becoming mellow toward the suave finish, yet with a good backbone of acidity. Score: 94
Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt Wiltingen Gottesfuss, 2005 Riesling Grosses Gewächs, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer - $N/A: Shy nose opens with airing to show evident slate mingled with lovely, sweet lemon. The palate is loaded with slatey minerality, offering firm acidity and chiseled, laser-like flavors of stone fruit and citrus.
Score: 94
Reichsrat von Buhl Forst Ungeheuer, 2005 Riesling Grosses Gewächs, Pfalz - $N/A: Wonderful scents of dried pineapple, apricot and lemon zest. Smoky, slate-driven flavors of stone fruit accented by citrus increase in intensity toward the long finish. Score: 94
Schäfer-Fröhlich Schlossböckelheim Felsenberg, 2005 Riesling Grosses Gewächs, Nahe - $N/A: Slate-enhanced nose of stone fruit barely hints at the great burst of flavors that cascade across the very complex palate of ripe apricot, preserved lemon and slate minerality bolstered by zingy acidity. Score: 95
Schäfer-Fröhlich Bockenau Felseneck, 2005 Riesling Grosses Gewächs, Nahe - $N/A: Smoky and slatey on the nose with hints of fennel seed amid dried apricot and lemon blossom. Juicy and generous with plenty of focus on the well-structured palate; but playful, too, the wine exhibits brisk acidity and copious, deep flavors that replicate the nose. Score: 95
Schlossgut Diel Dorsheim Pittermännchen, 2005 Riesling Grosses Gewächs, Nahe - $46: Close to ethereal, offering delicate, elegant scents of lemon chiffon and black currant that are replicated on the palate of this full-bodied wine. Excellent acidity and great palate presence with copious fruit tinged with slatey minerality. Score: 94
Von Othegraven Kanzem Altenberg, 2005 Riesling Grosses Gewächs, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer - $N/A: Shimmering minerality defines the nose enhanced by lemon zest and dried peach. Mouth-filling with crisp acidity, this noble wine is juicy, yet dry with copious flavors of citrus and apricot. Finishes with a mineral flourish. Score: 93
Wittmann Westhofen Kirchspiel, 2005 Riesling Grosses Gewächs, Rheinhessen - $N/A: Shy scents of lemon blossom accented by apricot compote. Sleek and smooth on the palate with exciting minerality enhancing the flavors that echo the nose and display excellent acid balance. Score: 93
Wittmann Westhofen Morstein, 2005 Riesling Grosses Gewächs, Rheinhessen - $N/A: Enticing nose of verbena and lemon oil uplifted by a note of slate. Well structured with great acid balance, delivering noble flavors of dried apricot, lemon zest and ripe pear; complex and quite dry. Score: 94 - SP
