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2023 Donnhoff Kreuznacher Kahlenberg EL Riesling Trocken

James Suckling

In stock

A minerally Riesling from a 'Premier Cru' single-vineyard in Kreuznacher, Germany. The Kahlenberg Erste Lage site enjoys free-draining gravelly soils on a sun-facing slope in an warmer part of the valley. The distinctive ripeness is expressed in lovely citrus as well as richer coloured fruit, harmoniously in tension with a slightly salty and wet-stone mineral acidity. A beautiful mid-level offering from another historic site, the Kahlenberg is nice value and a more generous variation on the Donnhoff themes.

$64.99 in mixed 6+ or $72.99 per bottle

Overview

Grape

Riesling

Its Origins

Hailed by the likes of Robert Parker and Hugh Johnson and named Gault Millau Winemaker of the Year in 1999, Helmut Donnhoff is regarded in German Riesling circles as a super-star. And if you’re thinking that term is somehow an oxymoron, you’d probably find Helmut agrees. With the affable humility and deep deference to his vineyards of someone whose family have been making wine since 1750, Donnhoff believes that “winemaking alone cannot bring quality, it can only retain the available quality.” Wine is made in the vineyard, and from taking the helm in 1971 to the present day Helmut has grown the family holdings from 4 hectares to a still modest 20 hectares of lovingly managed vineyards. 80% of these are Riesling (many of them Erste Lage or Grand Cru) with the other 20%, reflecting Nahe’s less austere climates and more mixed clay and volcanic soils, given to Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc. But Riesling is king, with Helmut Donnhoff’s many classics from the steeper slate soils having themselves played a prominent role, over the last forty years, in formalising Nahe’s reputation as Germany’s third region for consistently premium and Grand Cru wines.

What The Critics Say

93/100 JamesSuckling.com, Stuart Piggott

“Very old vineyards on a hillside, 500 meters away from the river. Gravel and quartzite with light porphyry content. Kreuznach ripens a little earlier than the middle Nahe, about a week earlier. Anyone who usually finds the acidity of dry riesling a bit much should be a happy camper with this wine. Brimming with a fresh fruit salad of aromas, juicy and supple, it is also wonderfully refreshing and has a tingling spritz of natural carbon dioxide that lifts the juicy finish. Drink or hold.”

91-93/100 Falstaff, Ulrich Sautter

"Warm and ripe at first smell. Yellow apple, grapefruit, lime, lemon balm and a hint of jasmine. Ripe and complex on the palate, with plenty of raciness and structure. Still cool on the palate thanks to its beguiling acidity and minerality. Juice and power and inner tension lead into the long finish."

92/100 Parkers Wine Advocate, Stephan Reinhardt

"The 2023 Kreuznacher Kahlenberg Riesling trocken is deep, clear, fresh and intense on the bright and vegetal as well as stony nose. The wine is round and lush on the palate, quite charming yet also savory, fine and elegant on the well balanced finish. This is a playful but also dense and persistently mineral structured, mouth-filling Riesling that should be excellent with food now and still in 10 years. 12.5% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted in October 2024." Drink 2024 - 2038

Stats & Food Matching

Variety	Riesling
Region	Nahe
Closure	Cork
Volume	750ml
Alcohol	12.50%
Maturity	2024 - 2045

This Wine Goes Well With

Taste

Delivery & Returns

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