Pale to light mid straw. Spätlese weight, but no more. The sweetness has mellowed and is showing more as a richness of flavour than overt sweetness. Fresh with really good cut, the acidity bright and vibrant. One would struggle to pick this as 03. ***1/2
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Nose of clover honey. Medium weight. Shocked at how refreshing the finish still is on this, with plenty of acidity and a touch of minty bitterness. Also some green mango in the finish. Greatly exceeded my expectations in light of the hot vintage.
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#06-04, 9% abv. For whatever reason, I wanted to like this more than I did. Compared to the very elegant 2004 that I had a few days ago, this vintage feels blocky and coarse. It has some of the stylistic lightness that I expect from Dönnhoff but that's almost where it ends. There just doesn't seem to be the raciness, lift, and elegance here. Nonetheless, a very good effort for a hot vintage, but I strongly prefer the 2004.
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Big, brilliant, cool as mountain spring water, this buxom welterweight delivers the goods. Classic Donnhoff vanillin, alpine meadows, del monte canned peaches nose followed by cool ginger-anise inflected pear slate goodness on the uber refreshing palate. Wicked good spatlese that transcends the warmer vintage.
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joli vin frais, à l'acidité basse, doux et fin, avec une belle salinité en finale. Pas le plus complexe des vins de ce producteur mais fort agréable et parfait pour l'occasion. 89-90 pts
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Had with sushi. Pale to medium straw color. A bit on the sweet, overly ripe side of the spectrum, no doubt owing to the excessively hot vintage. Bigger & rounder mouthfeel than usual. Didn't have sufficiently crisp acidity to balance vs the fruit as in better vintages, and didn't have overt minerality or petrol qualities that I love about these wines, but was still pleasant enough as this is a fine winemaker. Certainly has some time left so I look forward to revisiting this one down the road to see how it develops/improves.
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I thought this was a very nice bottle. Hard expressing it as it was my first german riesling. Different from the alsace wines. But i liked it. I had heard it was an off year and it might not be very good by now. I can assure you that it was fine. Open one up if you have the chance.
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Hot vintage, cf. Papies' note. Very big and bold, a lot more petrol on nose. Very ripe fruit, almost creamy mouthfeel, but lacking freshness and acidity, definitely a special vintage.
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Donnhoff Riesling Masterclass, with Cornelius Donnhoff (Handford Wines, London): A 2003 mystery or beauty. CD was impressed by how this has evolved and held the test of time given that the popular guess when this was released was that they would degrade very fast. For the record this vineyard no longer belongs to Donhoff as it was exchanged in 2008 Very different in a way to the others as the vitality and acidity are low. It is a milder sweet wine in terms of sharpness in palate “flattish in a nice way” for the lack of better expression and well round. Very special in a way and very enjoyable 92+
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Open alongside a 2003 Dönnhoff Schloßböckelheimer Felsenberg Riesling Spätlese and served for Chinese New Year dinner. I like this better than the Felsenberg. Both were nice but this was more elegant with a touch more acid to go with the sweetness. The sweetness was also not over-powering, giving it a nice balance
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- Yellow color with medium forming legs and aromas of diesel, lemon, apricot and honey. It's balanced and has flavours of lemon, apricot, honey and orange blossom with a medium body. Juicy texture with a long finish.
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This is why I love Donnhoff. Great acid. Floral and white stone fruit nose. Minerality, just a twinge of sugar on the tip of the tongue. Some lemon, peach flavors. Really good. And it opens up in the glass with a little warmth.
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This bottled unlike another I had, has some zing to it. gorgeous nose, layered flavors, minerally, lime, a little salty sweet. Nice. Soft and silky like only Donnhoff can do.
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Great layers of flavor. Tangerine, pineapple and peach. Good minerality. Burnt cinnamon spices. Unctuous, but not petrol. Finish long and longer. As compared to several of the prior notes, I found good citrus acidity (which was better three hours out of bottle and closer to room temp). w/o question, Donnhoff is one of my favorite producers of wine of any varietal.
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Very light gold colored texture...and as before nice ripe stone fruit with a light tart edge and some minerals backing it. A nice sweet texture that was just short of being over the line, but just enough acidity to keep it in check. Demure and elegant...an easy sipper.
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Light to medium straw with a hint of gold...elements of ripe stone fruit with some minerals on the nose...very easy entry with some nice fruit textures at mid palate showing some a nice sweetness, with barely enough of a counter point of acidity to balance...just hanging on. Nice none the less...and it did seem to become more endearing over time.
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Bright yellow in glass. Nose of ripe peaches. On the palate, this is not showing much dimension initially, with white peach and a bit of lemon custard showing. There is no acidic structure to this at all and it suffers from being served at cellar temperature. With time in the glass, others at the table found more to like, but I continued to only get a simple flavor profile with no defined structure. Enjoyable, but with little sense of breed or place.
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Nez d'agrûmes, explosif, pamplemousse et un peu de lichi. Belle fraicheur, un vin fin et très équilibré. Très agréable, assez long et finale en finesse.
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M&D’s: Dinner out on deck; for dessert--beaut. lite peach notes w/great serious mineral aspects and flower basket; grt. richness and pedigree. Very nice; maybe these should be aged 4-5 yrs for added dimension?
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Very light pale color with maybe a hint of light green...fruity and twangy nose with a hint of mineral. Good grip and delicious fruit texture that had barely enough acidic balance to counter the sweet fruit...good mid palate and a nice lingering finish that went well with some old fashioned spicey shrimp creole...
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This was everything I could have asked for. No, it's not at the level of Dönnhoff's top bottlings. But it is darn tasty right now, and it has what I think of as his signature transparency and purity.
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Extremely pale yellow color; reticent nose of lychee, white peach and wet stones; beautifully balanced; slight additional hint of almond in the mouth. A shy intriguing wine.
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TNs: Dinner at Sripraphai (Queens): This upset me. Not on the level of the delchen and hermansholle at all. thiner and not as concentrated. BUT this is still donnhoff and the elegance is there. It may have been hard to judge this because of what came before it. Lots of red berries and nice sweetness. even more of the minerality and flint? smoky and delicious. This needs to be tasted separatly.
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1/29/2024 - cubswinws Likes this wine: 91 Points
Super good and surprisingly light on its feet with just a touch of sweetness on the finish.
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4/11/2023 - LoireFan wrote: 93 Points
Rocking.
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5/24/2022 - SimonG wrote: 90 Points
Pale to light mid straw. Spätlese weight, but no more. The sweetness has mellowed and is showing more as a richness of flavour than overt sweetness. Fresh with really good cut, the acidity bright and vibrant. One would struggle to pick this as 03. ***1/2
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7/30/2021 - juffer Likes this wine: 92 Points
Nose of clover honey. Medium weight. Shocked at how refreshing the finish still is on this, with plenty of acidity and a touch of minty bitterness. Also some green mango in the finish. Greatly exceeded my expectations in light of the hot vintage.
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7/3/2021 - acyso wrote: 88 Points
#06-04, 9% abv. For whatever reason, I wanted to like this more than I did. Compared to the very elegant 2004 that I had a few days ago, this vintage feels blocky and coarse. It has some of the stylistic lightness that I expect from Dönnhoff but that's almost where it ends. There just doesn't seem to be the raciness, lift, and elegance here. Nonetheless, a very good effort for a hot vintage, but I strongly prefer the 2004.
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1/1/2017 - DHJ1968 wrote:
Big, brilliant, cool as mountain spring water, this buxom welterweight delivers the goods. Classic Donnhoff vanillin, alpine meadows, del monte canned peaches nose followed by cool ginger-anise inflected pear slate goodness on the uber refreshing palate. Wicked good spatlese that transcends the warmer vintage.
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8/15/2016 - tooch wrote: flawed
Dinner at Marc's (Marc's Apartment - Chicago, IL): corked
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2/15/2016 - d'Artagnan wrote: 90 Points
joli vin frais, à l'acidité basse, doux et fin, avec une belle salinité en finale. Pas le plus complexe des vins de ce producteur mais fort agréable et parfait pour l'occasion. 89-90 pts
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1/9/2014 - RSK wrote: 92 Points
Honeysuckle flavors little bit of petrol on the nose. Could use a little more acidity, but that's quibbling.
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10/16/2013 - EMichels wrote: 92 Points
Great nose - nice edge; Great clarity; Excellent fruit; Great interest; Still showing very young
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9/5/2013 - cephomer wrote: 91 Points
Had with sushi. Pale to medium straw color. A bit on the sweet, overly ripe side of the spectrum, no doubt owing to the excessively hot vintage. Bigger & rounder mouthfeel than usual. Didn't have sufficiently crisp acidity to balance vs the fruit as in better vintages, and didn't have overt minerality or petrol qualities that I love about these wines, but was still pleasant enough as this is a fine winemaker. Certainly has some time left so I look forward to revisiting this one down the road to see how it develops/improves.
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8/7/2013 - Rktekt3 wrote: 91 Points
I thought this was a very nice bottle. Hard expressing it as it was my first german riesling. Different from the alsace wines. But i liked it. I had heard it was an off year and it might not be very good by now. I can assure you that it was fine. Open one up if you have the chance.
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5/29/2013 - chitowncdpguy wrote:
Beautiful. Had next to the Norheimer Dellchen and it was restrained by comparison. Not very sweet, a little butterscotch flavor, very long finish.
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5/2/2013 - rossi.wine wrote: 91 Points
Hot vintage, cf. Papies' note. Very big and bold, a lot more petrol on nose. Very ripe fruit, almost creamy mouthfeel, but lacking freshness and acidity, definitely a special vintage.
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5/2/2013 - Papies wrote: 92 Points
Donnhoff Riesling Masterclass, with Cornelius Donnhoff (Handford Wines, London): A 2003 mystery or beauty. CD was impressed by how this has evolved and held the test of time given that the popular guess when this was released was that they would degrade very fast. For the record this vineyard no longer belongs to Donhoff as it was exchanged in 2008
Very different in a way to the others as the vitality and acidity are low. It is a milder sweet wine in terms of sharpness in palate “flattish in a nice way” for the lack of better expression and well round. Very special in a way and very enjoyable 92+
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2/9/2013 - JeremyQ Likes this wine: 91 Points
Open alongside a 2003 Dönnhoff Schloßböckelheimer Felsenberg Riesling Spätlese and served for Chinese New Year dinner. I like this better than the Felsenberg. Both were nice but this was more elegant with a touch more acid to go with the sweetness. The sweetness was also not over-powering, giving it a nice balance
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1/12/2013 - Vstalam wrote: 94 Points
- Yellow color with medium forming legs and aromas of diesel, lemon, apricot and honey. It's balanced and has flavours of lemon, apricot, honey and orange blossom with a medium body. Juicy texture with a long finish.
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12/18/2012 - EMichels wrote: 92 Points
Delicious; Bright; Lemon zest; A bit thicker in mouthfeel than it tastes
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6/26/2012 - Seth Rosenberg wrote: flawed
Sweet, slightly tropical but moderately corked, mushy. Soft and flabby on the palate. Disappointing.
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1/13/2012 - tederf wrote: 93 Points
This is why I love Donnhoff. Great acid. Floral and white stone fruit nose. Minerality, just a twinge of sugar on the tip of the tongue. Some lemon, peach flavors. Really good. And it opens up in the glass with a little warmth.
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9/29/2011 - jkline wrote: 93 Points
This bottled unlike another I had, has some zing to it. gorgeous nose, layered flavors, minerally, lime, a little salty sweet. Nice. Soft and silky like only Donnhoff can do.
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3/24/2011 - jkline wrote: 91 Points
lemon petrol nose, peaches on the palate. light, balanced, elegant, soft, silky....not powerful.
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9/13/2010 - tairanosaurus wrote: 92 Points
Great layers of flavor. Tangerine, pineapple and peach. Good minerality. Burnt cinnamon spices. Unctuous, but not petrol. Finish long and longer. As compared to several of the prior notes, I found good citrus acidity (which was better three hours out of bottle and closer to room temp). w/o question, Donnhoff is one of my favorite producers of wine of any varietal.
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4/30/2009 - Tejano wrote:
Very light gold colored texture...and as before nice ripe stone fruit with a light tart edge and some minerals backing it. A nice sweet texture that was just short of being over the line, but just enough acidity to keep it in check. Demure and elegant...an easy sipper.
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3/21/2009 - Tejano wrote:
Light to medium straw with a hint of gold...elements of ripe stone fruit with some minerals on the nose...very easy entry with some nice fruit textures at mid palate showing some a nice sweetness, with barely enough of a counter point of acidity to balance...just hanging on. Nice none the less...and it did seem to become more endearing over time.
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11/8/2008 - fredb wrote:
Bright yellow in glass. Nose of ripe peaches. On the palate, this is not showing much dimension initially, with white peach and a bit of lemon custard showing. There is no acidic structure to this at all and it suffers from being served at cellar temperature. With time in the glass, others at the table found more to like, but I continued to only get a simple flavor profile with no defined structure. Enjoyable, but with little sense of breed or place.
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7/24/2008 - d'Artagnan wrote: 90 Points
Nez d'agrûmes, explosif, pamplemousse et un peu de lichi. Belle fraicheur, un vin fin et très équilibré. Très agréable, assez long et finale en finesse.
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11/25/2007 - chidmf wrote: 90 Points
Very nice texture.
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10/21/2007 - Harry Cantrell wrote: 92 Points
very good, sweet, rich, nice fo rthe vintage
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7/28/2007 - peternelson wrote: 90 Points
M&D’s: Dinner out on deck; for dessert--beaut. lite peach notes w/great serious mineral aspects and flower basket; grt. richness and pedigree. Very nice; maybe these should be aged 4-5 yrs for added dimension?
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6/17/2006 - Tejano wrote: 90 Points
Very light pale color with maybe a hint of light green...fruity and twangy nose with a hint of mineral. Good grip and delicious fruit texture that had barely enough acidic balance to counter the sweet fruit...good mid palate and a nice lingering finish that went well with some old fashioned spicey shrimp creole...
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4/23/2006 - 14frimaire wrote:
This was everything I could have asked for. No, it's not at the level of Dönnhoff's top bottlings. But it is darn tasty right now, and it has what I think of as his signature transparency and purity.
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10/2/2005 - randomly wrote: 92 Points
Extremely pale yellow color; reticent nose of lychee, white peach and wet stones; beautifully balanced; slight additional hint of almond in the mouth. A shy intriguing wine.
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11/21/2004 - Mlermontov wrote: 92 Points
TNs: Dinner at Sripraphai (Queens): This upset me. Not on the level of the delchen and hermansholle at all. thiner and not as concentrated. BUT this is still donnhoff and the elegance is there. It may have been hard to judge this because of what came before it. Lots of red berries and nice sweetness. even more of the minerality and flint? smoky and delicious. This needs to be tasted separatly.
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