Thursday, December 5, 2024

Germany's Weingut Künstler #2 on James Suckling's List of the Top 100 Wines of the World (2024)

Picture: Annette Schiller and Gunter Künstler. See: VDP.Rheingau Invited to a Pre-release Presentation of the 2017 Grosses Gewächs (GG) Wines

James Suckling has released his annual list of the Top 100 Wines of the World 2024. See here.
 
Interestingly, the #2 on this list - covering the whole world - is a white wine from Germany, the 2021 Weingut Künstler, Riesling, Hölle GG. 
 
Even more interestingly, it is not a fruity-sweet Kabinett, Spätlese or Auslese wine, for which the nation has long been famous, but an ultra-premium dry Riesling. 
 
In fact, already 2 years ago, Weingut Künstler, Riesling, Hölle GG was the #2 of Suckling's Top 100 Wines of the World 2022. 

See: Germany's Weingut Künstler #2 on James Suckling's List of the Top 100 Wines of the World (2022)

This "...says so much about the radical transformation German wine has undergone during recent years and about what makes high-end offerings from the country such a great choice today" wrote Senior Editor Stuart Pigott 2 years ago.
 
Picture: Wilhelm Weil, Gesine Roll (Weingut Weedenborn), Stuart Pigott, Christian Schiller and Annette Schiller at Gut Hermannsberg in the Nahe

Picture: Christian Schiller and Stuart Pigott. See: Tasting the Best of Virginia Wines in Frankfurt, Germany, with Stuart Pigott - Virginia Governor's Cup Case 2016
 
And went on: "At first these new substantial dry wines looked pretty radical, but as the 1990s progressed the trend away from light-bodied wines with obvious unfermented grape sweetness toward serious dry wines took hold in Germany. Together with the achievements of winemakers like Kunstler, that laid the foundations for the German wines of the 21st century.

This ... showcases the fruits of this transformation and celebrates the way most high-end German white wines remain excellent value for money. The contrast to the often astronomical prices for the white wines of Burgundy could hardly be more extreme. In Germany, the Holle GG 2021 typically costs just under 40 euros, but there are a bunch of places around Planet Wine where it won’t cost you much more than that. Yet it is a world-class dry white!"

Weingut Künstler is represented in the USA by Skurnik Imports. 

Weingut Künstler (35 hecatres)
Hochheim am Main / Rheingau / Germany

Skurnik Imports

Gunter Künstler comes to us from the famous village of Hochheim am Main; in the 17th century Britain the term ‘Hock’ was used to describe all Rhinegau wines. At that time, these wines were much more famous than Mosel wines and were more expensive than some of the finest Bordeaux. Thomas Jefferson visited the region in 1788 and described Rheingau Riesling as “small and delicate Rhysslin which grows only from Hochheim to Rudesheim”. He was so impressed with the quality that he found here, he took 100 cuttings of Rheingau Riesling back to Monticello. 

Pictures: Annette Schiller and Gunter Künstler at Weingut Künstler. See: 40th Anniversary of the Weinfreundeskreis Hochheim, Rheingau, Germany

Hochheim was quite famous long before this and the region was known for producing quality wines in the Shakespearean era. Both ‘Hock’ and ‘Rhenish’ can be found in Shakespearean texts. Hochheim am Main is on the banks of the Main River, which flows west from Frankfurt, meeting the Rhein at Mainz, on the other side of the river from Hochheim. Essentially the vineyards in this village are at the cross of these two rivers, which certainly influences the wines produced here. Weingut Künstler has a history dating back to 1648.

Picture: Gunter Künstler and Annette Schiller in Wiesbaden

Picture: Gunter Künstler and Christian Schiller in Hattenheim

Picture: The late Franz Künstler and Annette Schiller in Hochheim 


Picture: With Lorelei and Otto at Weingut Künstler in Hochheim in 2021

Until the end of World War II, the family grew grapes on their estate 80 km north of Vienna, in Untertannowitz in the South Moravian Region in the Czech Republic. After expropriation and expulsion, Franz Künstler was forced to leave the homeland of his family and in 1965 he re-established the Weingut Künstler in Hochheim Main/Rheingau. In 1992 his son Gunter took over the estate, and in 1994 the estate was admitted to the VDP. Generally, soils here are loess, clay, sand, loam, marl and limestone. The greatest sites in the village are Domdechaney (pronounced Dom-Dey-Sha-Nay), Kirchenstück, and Hölle while you could consider Herrnberg and Stielweg 1er Crus.time.

Picture: Christian G.E. Schiller with Gunter Kuenstler at Schloss Johnnisberg. Weingut Kuenstler was founded by the late Franz Kuenstler. We were both founding members of the Weinfreundeskreis Hochheim: The Wines of Franz Kuenstler from Hochheim, Rheingau, Germany

Pictures: At Weingut Künstler in Hochheim am Main, Rheingau, with Stefan Traub. See:Vineyard Walk, Cellar Tour and Wine Tasting at Weingut Künstler – Germany-North Wine Tour by ombiasy (2014)

Because of the proximity to two rivers, the climate in Hochheim is rather more humid than its environs. This complicates Gunter’s urge to move in an organic direction, though he says “Generally we are working without any herbicides since 1992 and we grow on 11 hectares organically. Here we have three blocks of about 3.5 hectares. In the future, we will move step by step to 100% organic, but this, in our warm and humid microclimate, is not easy. Finally, I have to make ends meet and to pay my employees. In order to produce dry Rieslings we have to protect against botrytis in every production step.” Cellar work is generally in line with the norms among elite producers. Musts settle by gravity and are pressed clear. He ferments with cultured yeast because it’s often still warm when grapes are being picked and to work sponti would mean a greater risk of volatile acidity. The cellar orients toward cask as opposed to steel, though each is used. Wood gives the ideal low-tech micro-oxygenation. The overriding goal is to produce wines with “heart and soul”. The wines are very pure, clean, and precise, without tasting as though they’ve been sanitized and had the character stripped out of them. They are detailed and meticulous, but also delicious and satisfying.

Picture: 1976 Weingut Künstler Hölle Riesling Auslese in 2020 at home in McLean, Virginia

  • Vineyard area: 35 hectares
  • Founded in: 1965
  • Top Sites in Hochheim:
    • Domdechaney: Grand Cru, Löss, loam, gravel
    • Kirschenstück: Grand Cru, heavy lime bedrock, with löss, loam, and sand
    • Hölle: Grand Cru, Very steep site with clay, marl, lime
  • Grape varieties:  Riesling, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc

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