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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 94.2 pts. and median of 94 pts. in 13 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by MayValley on 7/27/2023 & rated 94 points: In a perfect spot right now! I think the balance between freshness and juicy fruit on the one hand and more complex notes from the ageing on the other hand is perfect right now.
Beautiful golden colour.
Aromas of honey, quince and citrus fruit with just a hint of riesling petroleum.
The palate is filled with juicy fruit, both a touch of apple fruit but mostly citrus fruit - oranges and mandarins. Honey and a hint of saffron. There is nice acidity, mineral notes and also a creamy texture to the palate which is really nice. (622 views) | | | Tasted by wine_enjoyer on 7/23/2023 & rated 95 points: Overall, a fantastic Riesling! The wine has a great balance and complexity, supplemented by a long lasting finish. Can be aged for a really long time, but it is already showing well now.
Colour: deep gold.
Acidity: high.
Texture: medium +.
Aromas: honey, apricot, peach, minerality, and white flowers. (559 views) | | | Tasted by Axone on 7/4/2021 & rated 94 points: Excellent (939 views) | | | Tasted by Herschel Krustofski on 4/9/2018 & rated 95 points: Consistent with previous notes (1533 views) | | | Tasted by PC73 on 8/29/2016 & rated 93 points: No doubt horribly young, but this is so tasty. Light and gentle on the palate. Deft touch of sweetness and a bit salty. Touch of Apple. Lovely minerality. So easy to enjoy. A real treat. (1913 views) | | | Tasted by WillersC on 6/21/2015 & rated 95 points: Another stunning bottle of this. The energy and life in it is something to behold. Lot's of complexity and interest. Of course this is young and primary, but it's ohh so delicious (2646 views) | | | Tasted by WillersC on 3/31/2015 & rated 95 points: Holy shitballs, this is stunning!
Amazing balance between acidity and sweetness, fruit and mineral, richness and lightness of being. Just close you eyes and smile, life is good!!! (2509 views) | | | Tasted by eoinhharkins on 1/17/2015 & rated 94 points: Great site from a terrific producer, tropical, saline, slate dust aromas, palate had georgous depth of fruit and viscosity could have sipped it all night (2444 views) | | | Tasted by Herschel Krustofski on 9/15/2014 & rated 96 points: This is probably the best Auslese out of 20 or so I tasted this evening from the same vintage.
The liquid is almost clear at this early stage. We can look forward to following this up for another 20-30 years. Tasted alongside the the Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel. Both are stunning.
[Justerini German Riesling tasting] (2233 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)Auslese Goldkapsel"Goldkapsel" is a gold cap. It is SOMETIMES used as an unofficial, internal quality level mainly for Auslese. There are many exceptions to this rule, and if you want to look foolish exclaim 'ah, a goldkap' wine for an example for which such makes absolutely no difference, as all Ausleses from that estate and vineyard have gold tops. A good example is Dönnhoff.
Auslese Goldkapsel for an estate using this designation is usually richer, sweeter, and more expensive than the ordinary version. Often it is more botrytis-affected too. The term is never mentioned on the label, but the Goldkapsule bottlings are identified by the gold cap only.
Some producers use the gold capsule as a signal of a bottle of superior quality, some not. A gold cap can mean a sweeter or a botrytis affected 'dessert' style wine here, without any claim of superior quality. Good example is Molitor (Mosel), although with recent developments there this may no longer be true.
As a refinement on the above, for some estates there are more than one gold capsule wine in a category, such as Auslese or Eiswein or even Spätlese. When this occurs the only sure means of identification is the AP number appearing on each bottle of quality wine (Qualitätswein) since 1971. Sometimes there are long gold capsule wines (LGK for short), too, which may be difficult to distinguish except if one happens to have a sample of each type of bottle to do a direct comparison. Here too the AP number can help if you have a list of what was put out under what number.
All this happens frequently enough to make it desirable to have a list of every AP number used by every bottler in every vintage year, but as far as I know this is not available, nor is it likely to be anytime soon. Sometimes the producer website can help, and another help is often David Schildknecht when he was reviewing for the Wine Advocate, who tried to list all AP numbers where there is likely to be a need for them. I see that he has continued that policy at Vinous. jhtOberhäuser 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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