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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 93 pts. and median of 93 pts. in 2 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by peternelson on 1/14/2024 & rated 93 points: Fantastic bottling, very vibrant, interesting tertiaries, very lightlysweet, some earth tones, but wise and complex. Amazing with Dunsmore cornbread. EWG retrospective tasting dinner at Conrad's (122 views) | | | Tasted by Faryan on 12/14/2010 & rated 93 points: Clos Vougeot Dinner (Lavandou): I've always loved young Donnhoff for its exotic verve and its boisterous approach to explosive fruit, but wondered how aged Donnhoff would fair once that childish nonsense was grown out of? Well this bottle didn't disapoint. Lovely, pure pitch to the nose with classic ntoes of guayava and lime with hints of limestone counterbalanced with a lovely creamy feel. Now the guayava isn't like an 07 which tastes like it was picked off of a tree in Nicaragua. Rather, it is rounded, supple and clean. The pitch has develoepd a wonderful tenor and it finishes with hints of that aged petrol and a warming dollop of sweetness. (3060 views) |
| Dönnhoff Producer website
U.S. Importer (add'l info)
As a help to those who purchase and cellar these wines, let it be noted that the 'Goldkapsule' does not ofen designate a higher quality bottling from the producer Dönnhoff. Herr Dönnhoff uses gold capsules on about 99 percent of the l bottlings of certain richer wines from the vineyards Oberhauser Brücke and Niederhauser Hermannshöhle and perhaps some others. Therefore it is usually unneccessary and misleading to use the term 'Goldkapsule' with Dönnhoff wines, currently. Although, just to be confusing, David Bueker mentions that there may be one or two exceptions, especially in 2001 and 2003 vintages, where Donnhoff produced "white capsule" auslesen from the Leistenberg and Dellchen vineyards (later Dellchen auslesen have gone to the gold capsules - e.g. 2006). To have to list my notes on a Cellartracker page that has a non-necessary and meaningless 'gold capsule' designation is highly irritating for me, as I feel that if I list it correctly it won't even be picked up by a search.
Another example of the confusion above is with the frequent multiple bottlings of Eisweine from the Brücke vineyard. There were at least three bottlings in 1998 and three in 2002. They occur when prolonged cold snaps allow harvesting on successive days. Usually one of these is designated the 'regular' Eiswein and the best one is sent to the Auction. Each typically has a different style. They are informally referred to by the day of the week on which they were harvested. Thus in 1998 there was a 'Samstag' Eiswein, and one for 'Sonntag' and also 'Montag'. The last named is extremely powerful, and extremely expensive; it is the Auction lot.
It is STRONGLY URGED then that when referring to Dönnhoff wines one refers to the AP number If this terminology is not used, identity can be impossible to determine. JHTRiesling Varietal character (Appellation America) | A short history of Riesling (Uncork) | Riesling (wikipedia)Spätlese Wikipedia article on Spätlese.Oberhäuser Brücke Here you can see why the Brücke is so prone to Botyrtis and Eiswein.
jht: The eponymous Brücke ("Bridge"), also called the 'Leitpoldbrücke', that connects Oberhausen and Niederhausen, has very interesting local connotations, joining a 'Catholic' (Bavarian) town with a 'Protestant' town (Prussian), from south to north respectively. So it actually crosses the boundary between two former German kingdoms and is named for King Leopold of Bavaria. The vineyard below the bridge along the Nahe river was actually part of the Niederhauser Hermannsberg, but was divided off from it and switched municipal 'allegiances' at the behest of the Donnhoff family, that is really the result of a Catholic-Protestant marriage. And the Donnhoffs really do bridge all that is good and fine in the Nahe valley. This vineyard is especially fine for making Botrytis wines and Eisweins. A section of the vineyard is especially planted so that it is easier to harvest an Eiswein here, and some of the most brilliant Eisweins in Germany have been made here, such as the 1998, the 2001, and the 2002 ones. It is often possible to make more than one marketable Eiswein here in a good year for it; the resultant wines, such as the 1998s, are named after the day of the week upon which they were harvested. The 'Montag' of that year is one of the most highly desired great rarities of the German series. When there is more Eiswein than can be used commercially, or that doesn't have the specific character the Donnhoffs look for in these wines, it is used in the other wines from this vineyard, that are often erroneously called 'declassified'. Often the best Eisweine in this series are the Auction wines, late-offered usually at Bad Kreuznach, have gone for tens of thousands of Euros a bottle.
This is Alleinbesitz (wholly-owned) to the Donnhoffs. jhtGermany Wines of Germany | The Association of German Prädikat Wine Estates (VDP) | How to read a German wine label | Geographical Information Down to Single Vineyards
#2014 Vintage Notes:
2014 Vintage Report by Terry Theise
2014 Vintage Report by Wine Spectator
"My gut still tells me the Saar (and to some extent) the Ruwer are better overall in 2014 than the more storied areas of the Mosel proper, but those that spent the requisite time living in their middle-Mosel vineyards made some of the most electric and "feathery" Riesling in a long time (maybe the finest in 20 years - yes, it's true!)" - Jon Rimmerman (Of course only a very short historical memory would call the Saar and Ruwer less 'storied' than the middle Mosel - jht)NaheAn der Nahe erwarten den Besucher sanftes Grün, romantische Flusstäler und dramatische Felsformationen. Dazu gastfreundliche Winzer und ihre vielfältigen Weine.
2.000 Jahre Weinbautradition hat das Anbaugebiet an der Nahe und den Nebenflüssen Glan und Alsenz. Vor kalten Winden durch den hohen Hunsrück geschützt, schaffen milde Temperaturen und viel Sonnenschein ein hervorragendes Klima für den Weinbau in dem regenarmen und sonnigen Tal. Hier wachsen auf rund 4.000 Hektar Rebsorten wie Riesling, Rivaner, und Silvaner. Auch die Spielarten des Burgunders sowie Kerner, Scheurebe, Portugieser und Dornfelder sind hier zu Hause. Lieblingskind der Winzer ist der an Finessen reiche Riesling, ein Viertel der Rebfläche ist damit bestockt.
Eine bewegte Erdgeschichte hat der Nahe-Region eine große Bodenvielfalt beschert. Die Reben wachsen auf Schiefergestein, vulkanischen Porphyr- oder Löss- und Lehmböden. Das ermöglicht eine Vielfalt an Rebsorten und Weinstilen.
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