The VDP eagle has landed – I tackled Day 1 of the Grosse Gewaechs premiere in Wiesbaden successfully. I accomplished my mission to explore „everything than Riesling“. Here are my overall findings in a nutshell. I tasted many stunning wines in the top but also some GGs which do not play in the Champions League.
From the Spätburgunder, much applause goes to Fürst winery in Franconia. They produced exceptional Spätburgunder in 2018. Schlossberg, Centgrafenberg and Hundsrück formed an amazing triple. I especially loved the coolness of fruit and herbs and the tight structure of the Centgrafenberg in the warm 2018 vintage and the even more structured, intense Hundsrück.
The collection of Julian Huber from Bernhard Huber Winery in Baden impressed me most. He produced some outstanding wines. Especially the 2018 Spätburgunder Bienenberg Wildenstein was shining – elegant, intense, cherries, earth, smoke, fine-grained tannins. Schlossberg 2018 was also a masterpiece. His Chardonnays Schlossberg and Bienenberg 2018 were also outstanding – very long and lingering, intense and multilayered. Nuts, spices and herbs in the finish with an attractive flintiness. Apropos whites: Bercher winery produced some excellent Weissburgunder (Feuerberg Haslen 2019) and Grauburgunder (Schlossgarten and Haslen 2019).
One of my favourite Weissburgunder comes from Pfalz: Philipp Kuhn´s Kirschgarten 2018 long and intense, white and ripe yellow fruit but still precise and focused with a lovely smoky finish. Als remarkable his Spätburgunder 2017 from Steinbuckel and Kirschgarten.
Day 2 will be all about Riesling… Stay tuned!
