The Feinschmecker Riesling Cup is an annual contest in Germany that tries to identify the best dry Rieslings of the last vintage. In 2015, the Feinschmecker organized the Feinschmecker Riesling Cup for the 8th time.
About 400 dry top Rieslings were blind tasted by an international jury. When all was said and done, the 2014 Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Große Gewächs stood alone atop the winner's podium. Helmut Dönnhoff traveled to Munich on November 21 to accept the 28cm glass sculpture in person from Feinschmecker Editor-in-Chief Madeleine Jakitz. The gala awards ceremony was held in the ballroom of the "Bayerischer Hof" hotel.
Runner-up was: 2014 Trittenheimer Apotheke Riesling Kabinett trocken, Weingut Ernst Clüsserath (Mosel).
The third place went to: 2014 Kupp Fass 18 Riesling Großes Gewächs, Weingut Peter Lauer (Saar).
For previous years, see on schiller-wine:
Germany’s Best Dry Rieslings – Feinschmecker Riesling Cup 2014
Germany’s Best Dry Rieslings – Feinschmecker Riesling Cup 2013
Germany’s Best Dry Rieslings – Feinschmecker Riesling Cup 2012
Germany’s Best Dry Rieslings - Feinschmecker Riesling Cup 2011
The 11 Top German Dry Rieslings – Feinschmecker German Riesling Cup 2010 (Vintage 2009)
The 13 Top German Dry Rieslings – Feinschmecker German Riesling Cup 2009 (Vintage 2008)
Riesling Cup 2009 - Germany's Top Dry 2007 Rieslings
Riesling in the World
There are about 47000 hectares planted with Riesling worldwide. Germany – with 22500 hectares – accounts for about half of the total. The second and third largest Riesling producer are the US (mainly Washington State and Finger Lakes Region) with 4800 hectares and Australia with 4100 hectares. But this is only about 1/10 of the total. Alsace follows with 3500 hectares. Alsace, Ukraine and Austria follow with 3500 hectares, 2700 hectares and 1900 hectares, respectively.
Overall, Riesling is really a niche wine, accounting for less than 1 percent of total wine production in the world - but a very special niche wine. In terms of quality wines, Riesling is usually included in the top three white wine varieties, with Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. Riesling is highly terroir-expressive, meaning that the character of Riesling wines is clearly influenced by the wine’s place of origin.
The Top 17 Wines 2015
01. Platz: 2014 Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Riesling Großes Gewächs, Weingut Hermann Dönnhoff (Nahe)
02. Platz: 2014 Trittenheimer Apotheke Riesling Kabinett trocken, Weingut Ernst Clüsserath (Mosel)
03. Platz: 2014 Kupp Fass 18 Riesling Großes Gewächs, Weingut Peter Lauer (Saar)
04. Platz: 2014 Burg Layen Riesling trocken, Schlossgut Diel (Nahe)
05. Platz: 2014 Steinbuckel Riesling Großes Gewächs, Weingut Knipser (Pfalz)
06. Platz: 2014 Monzinger Frühlingsplätzchen Riesling Großes Gewächs, Weingut Emrich-Schönleber (Nahe)
07. Platz: 2014 Durbacher Plauelrain Am Bühl Riesling Großes Gewächs, Weingut Andreas Laible (Baden)
08. Platz: 2014 Forster Jesuitengarten Riesling Spätlese trocken, Weingut Eugen Müller (Pfalz)
09. Platz: 2014 Graacher Riesling trocken, Weingut Willi Schaefer (Mosel)
10. Platz: 2014 Pfalz Riesling trocken, Weingut Emil Bauer und Söhne (Pfalz)
11. Platz: 2014 Brauneberg Juffer Sonnenuhr Riesling Großes Gewächs, Weingut Fritz Haag (Mosel)
12. Platz: 2014 Graacher Riesling trocken, Weingut Dr. Loosen (Mosel)
13. Platz: 2014 Oestrich Alte Reben Riesling trocken, Weingut F. B. Schönleber (Rheingau)
14. Platz: 2014 Leinhöhle Riesling trocken, Weingut Gebrüder Andres (Pfalz)
15. Platz: 2014 Escherndorf Am Lumpen Riesling Großes Gewächs, Weingut Horst Sauer (Franken)
16. Platz: 2014 Traiser Bastei Riesling Großes Gewächs, Weingut Dr. Crusius (Nahe)
17. Platz: 2014 Monzinger Frühlingsplätzchen Riesling -S- trocken, Weingut Bamberger (Nahe)
Feinschmecker Riesling Cups 2008 to 2015 – Dönnhoff Rules
The Feinschmecker Riesling Cup was organized for the 8th time this year and Weingut Dönnhoff won the contest for the 4th time. This is impressive. Congratulations.
Weingut Dönnhoff: Much to be thankful fo(u)r... They say third time's the charm, but in our case it's FOUR — four Cups that is. We're thrilled to add the 2014 Feinschmecker Riesling Cup to our already humbling collection from 2010, 2011 and 2012.
Visit of Weingut Dönnhoff during ombiasy WineTour (2014)
In the Nahe region, we visited three producers: Dönnhoff, Kruger-Rumpf and Diel. We started out with Weingut Dönnhoff, where we were hosted by Christina Dönnhoff, Cornelius Dönnhoff’s sister.
The Dönnhoff family has been making wines for more than 250 years, but a new era started when Helmut Dönnhoff began making wine in 1971. Helmut Dönnhoff has become a living legend of German wine and is celebrated as one of Germany’s very best producers. While Helmut Dönnhoff is still fully involved in all aspects of Weingut Dönnhoff, his son Cornelius has officially taken over from his father a couple of years ago.
The Dönnhoff family first came to the Nahe Valley over 200 years ago. The Dönnhoffs were a mixed farm up until the 20th century, with cereal crops, vegetables, fruit and livestock in addition to grapes. Helmut's grandfather Hermann made the transition from mixed farm to focus entirely on winegrowing. Helmut Dönnhoff took over day-to-day responsibility from his father in 1971. From the initial 4 hectares of land Helmut Dönnhoff expanded the estate to now 25 hectares. Today, Helmut’s son Cornelius Dönnhoff is responsible for the wines.
In terms of Riesling, Weingut Dönnhoff splits its production between the dry and sweet styles. “Riesling has 2 faces – it has a good reputation for dry wines and it has a good reputation for fruity sweet wines. We used to use the best grapes for the sweet style wines, but the fashion has shifted to dry wines. Now high class dry wines are being made. Global warming has helped. Acidity is lower now and the grapes are riper, so the quality of wines has improved” says Helmut Dönnhoff.
Weingut Dönnhoff’s holdings represent some of the best in the Nahe and all of Germany:
(1) The Schlossböckelheimer Felsenberg is a very old site with porphyry soil.
(2) The Oberhäuser Leistenberg, the oldest vineyard held by the family, has slate soils and produces fruity wines with elegant acidity.
(3) The Oberhäuser Brücke, the smallest vineyard in the Nahe, is a tiny parcel saddled on the Nahe River that Dönnhoff owns in entirety. The Brücke has grey slate covered by loess-clay and the vines ripen even later here than in the Hermannshöhle due to large diurnal temperature swings along the river.
(4) The Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle, perhaps the most famous of all the Nahe vineyards, is a slate vineyard with many conglomerates of volcanic rocks, mostly porphyry and melaphyr.
(5) The Norheimer Dellchen is a steep terraced vineyard in a rocky hollow with porphyry and slate soil.
Norheimer Kirscheck sits on a steep south slope of slate soil and produces delicately fruity wines with spice and race.
(6) The Norheimer Kahlenberg: Southern slopes with quartzite and loam soils.
(7) The Kreuznacher Krötenpfuhl vineyard has perfect drainage due its topsoil of pebbles over loam soil; characteristic are wines with a mineralic elegance. Due to the water table that flows beneath the vineyard’s soil the Krötenpfhul has always been farmed organically, even before it was purchased by Weingut Dönnhoff.
(8) The Roxheimer Höllenpfad: steep, south-facing site with weathered red and stone soil.
Although the Nahe is a dry region, the vineyards are not watered as to encourage deep rooted vines. The soil is covered with organic material like straw and compost to preserve water and to avoid evaporation and erosion in heavy rains. The vines are all grown on wire frames, low to the ground to benefit from the warmth of the stoney topsoil, and at a density of approx. 6000 vines per hectare.
"We do not irrigate at all. We irrigated in the 1950s. My father and his colleagues did it for frost protection. After 10 or 15 years of doing it we realized that the wines were not better. In particular we saw that in places we did not irrigate, the wines were better. The roots went deeper, the wines were more intense. So we stopped irrigation 25 years ago” says Helmut Dönnhoff.
The Dönnhoff family has been making wines for more than 250 years, but a new era started when Helmut Dönnhoff began making wine in 1971. Helmut Dönnhoff has become a living legend of German wine and is celebrated as one of Germany’s very best producers. While Helmut Dönnhoff is still fully involved in all aspects of Weingut Dönnhoff, his son Cornelius has officially taken over from his father a couple of years ago.
Feinschmecker Riesling Cups 2008 to 2015 – Nahe Rules: Dönnhoff, Kruger-Rumpf, Schäfer-Fröhlich
Weingut Dönnhoff won the Feinschmecker Riesling Cup for the 4th time this year. Also, Weingut Kruger-Rumpf and Weingut Schäfer-Fröhlich, both from the Nahe region, has won the Feinschmecker Riesling Cup in previous years. Thus, 6 of the 8 Feinschmecker Riesling Cups went to producers from the Nahe region: Dönnhoff (4), Kruger-Rumpf and Schäfer-Fröhlich.
Feinschmecker Riesling Cup 2015 – Nahe Rules: Dönnhoff, Diel, Emrich-Schönleber, Dr. Crusius, Bamberger
Five of this year’s top seventeen wines were produced in the Nahe region:
01. Platz: 2014 Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Riesling Großes Gewächs,
Weingut Hermann Dönnhoff (Nahe)
04. Platz: 2014 Burg Layen Riesling trocken, Schlossgut Diel (Nahe)
Picture: Christian Schiller with Armin and Caroline Diel at Schlossgut Diel, see: Tasting with Sylvain Taurisson Diel at Schlossgut Diel, Nahe – Germany-North Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2014)06. Platz: 2014 Monzinger Frühlingsplätzchen Riesling Großes Gewächs,
Weingut Emrich-Schönleber (Nahe)
16. Platz: 2014 Traiser Bastei Riesling Großes Gewächs, Weingut Dr.
Crusius (Nahe)
17. Platz: 2014 Monzinger Frühlingsplätzchen Riesling -S- trocken,
Weingut Bamberger (Nahe)
The Nahe Region
With 4155 hectares, the Nahe is a rather small wine region. The Nahe is a predominantly white wine region with Riesling being the most significant planting. A characteristic of the Nahe region is that the soils are very varied owing to the region's volcanic origins.
Although the region was populated already in Roman times, and the village of Monzingen was mentioned as a wine village as early as 778, the Nahe wine region was defined only with the 1971 German wine law. Before that, the wines were sold as plain "Rhine wine". Since then, the Nahe region has experienced a phenomenal upswing, driven by their leading producers, including Schlossgut Diel, Hermann Dönnhoff, Emrich-Schönleber, Schäfer Fröhlich, Dr. Crusius, Hexamer, Kruger-Rumpf and others.
schiller-wine - Related Postings
Germany-North Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2015), Germany
An Afternoon with Riesling Star Winemaker Helmut Doennhoff at Weingut Doennhoff in Oberhausen in the Nahe Valley, Germany
Germany’s Best Winemakers and Wines – Gault Millau WeinGuide Deutschland 2016 Awards: The Awards Ceremony in Mainz, Germany
Wine Tasting and Cellar Tour at Weingut Dönnhoff with Christina Dönnhoff – Germany-North Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2014)
Lunch and Wine Tasting with Georg Rumpf, Weingut Kruger-Rumpf, Nahe Valley – Germany-North Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2014)
Wine Dinner with Tour at Weingut Kruger-Rumpf in Münster-Sarmsheim, Nahe, with Georg Rumpf – Germany-North Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2015), Germany
Tasting with Sylvain Taurisson Diel at Schlossgut Diel, Nahe – Germany-North Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2014)
No comments:
Post a Comment