Donnhoff Riesling Masterclass, with Cornelius Donnhoff

Cornelius Donnhoff might not be the most eloquent wine producer but definitely among the most open and clear when it comes to speaking about wines. Straight shooting, no BS, no flamboyant rants. Passionate and keen to open up a discussion, he asked as many questions as we asked him. No preaching here either and the terms that epitomised the discussion was “wine is a drink and much be enjoyable” as well as “I make wines that I also like myself”

A few notes on recent vintages:
2012 – Ripe yet with good acidity and carries the sweetness very well. Good for aging. Interesting note here is that in 2012 they had NO botrytis so the Auslese+ wines were made from very ripe sun facing grapes rather than noble rot grapes. Actually the 2012 Auslese we tried below was something special and very different.
2011 – A great year, good ripeness, good balance. Not so high in acidity
2010 – A special vintage and maybe a once in a lifetime, CD believes he will never see this again, as the grapes had a lot of ripeness, high sugars yet very high acidity. Both Sugars and Acity were turned to 11!. 2010s would make for very long maturity.
2008 – A very cool year, to the point that they only made Spatleses. Spatlese wine benefited from having all the attention
2003 – The hottest vintage here too. Low acidity and the wines feel (see the 2003 below) light and with low vitality yet they have matured and held up very well.

His Philosophy on aging:
3 phases in his wines (Sweet ones).
Phase 1: ~ 1-3 years old – Fresh, primary, fruit driven
Phase 2: ~ 3-6 years old. Wines retrace and sort of close down
Phase 3: 7yr + wines re emerge with evolution and more secondary characteristics

Goldcaps/Auctions & all that Jazz. He only makes one wine every year so unlike Mosel there is no Auslese, Auslese gold cap and long caps etc. Usually the Ausleses all have gold caps. When they make small quantities of a wine they would usually send it for auctions.

• 2011 Dönnhoff Riesling Tonschiefer trocken 87 Points

  Germany, Nahe

  On the ripe side with a floral nose, light orange hint. Shy nose though (especially vs the its sweeter cousins and its brother from 2012). Young wine firm and 12.5% Alc. Good wine. 87

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• 2012 Dönnhoff Riesling Tonschiefer trocken

  Germany, Nahe

  Just bottled and not on sale yet. Nose is more green apple, open nose, light floral too mineral. On the palate it still has the “fizziness“ of just being bottled. Firm, higher acidity as per 2012 vintage. Fresh and powerful wine with a nice sweet undertone. Good wine.

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• 2011 Dönnhoff Kreuznacher Krötenpfuhl Riesling Kabinett 89 Points

  Germany, Nahe

  Light petrolly nose, ripe fruits “very 2011 in style” to quote Cornelius Donnhoff. Young and primary of course. 10% alc and with 40g/l of sugar. Feels like a spatlese due to its lower acidity. Richer but lacks that light beauty of a Kabinet. 88-89

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• 2012 Dönnhoff Kreuznacher Krötenpfuhl Riesling Kabinett 90 Points

  Germany, Nahe

  Just bottled. After the 2011 Kabinets with the more sweet feel it is nice to see this fresher, higher acidity and only just lower alc (9% vs 10% of the 2010). Ripe fruit feel but it carries the sweet core better gven the higher acidity. Fresh and lovely. 90+

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• 2011 Dönnhoff Oberhäuser Leistenberg Riesling Kabinett 89 Points

  Germany, Nahe

  Similar to the Kreuznacher, 10% alc, 40g/l light petrolly nose and with a ripe fruit feel. Once again the 2011 style(ripe with lower acidity) that Cornelius Donnhoff believes these exhibit pushes the sweetness feel of this wine to a more of a spatlese level. 89

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• 2011 Dönnhoff Schloßböckelheimer Felsenberg Riesling Spätlese 91 Points

  Germany, Nahe

  Light nose here, light petrolly feel. Less floral more herbal feel to it. “Proper” spatlese feel to it and very nicely balanced and elegant. Young and with a good life ahead. 90-91+

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• 2010 Dönnhoff Kreuznacher Krötenpfuhl Riesling Spätlese

  Germany, Nahe

  A great example of what the 2010 vintage is. Ripe with good level of sugar (85g here) yet with a high acidity that keeps It in check. Green apple notes on the nose , light nose yet very fresh. Very long and firm, elegant even at this young stage. This would definitely benefit from a few more years in bottle.
  90 at this “early” stage but could easily be a 95 in the future if it evolves as expected.

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• 2008 Dönnhoff Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Riesling Spätlese

  Germany, Nahe

  This is their highest rated vineyard and 60yr+ vines. 2008 was a cool vintage to the level they did not produce any ausleses. Petrolly nose here, good acidity and balance. Good wine with depth and maybe the . 90ish

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• 2003 Dönnhoff Schloßböckelheimer Kupfergrube Riesling Spätlese 92 Points

  Germany, Nahe

  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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• 2011 Dönnhoff Oberhäuser Brücke Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel

  Germany, Nahe

  Light restrained nose, young feel to it. Rich, ripe and definitely the ripe 2011 vintage favoured Donhoff’s sweeter wines. Fresh, young wine with good balance and lots of promise. Unfortunately palate fatigue started to set in at this point so no rating from us.

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• 2011 Dönnhoff Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel

  Germany, Nahe

  Petrolly and open on the nose. Lovely ripe fruit, and in a way more fwd than the Brucke 11 GK and much easier to enjoy at this stage. Young yet beautiful wine with lots of promise here too. we blame palate fatigue for not providing a rating here..

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• 2012 Dönnhoff Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel

  Germany, Nahe

  Barrel sample provided by Cornelius Donnhoff.
  This is a very different wine from the other ausleses as in 2012 they had no botrytis. They chose to make an auslese out of darker, riper berries and the result is something very different. The wine is very floral, with exotic notes, pineapple, no petrolly feel. On the palate it has a lightness and balance that makes it delicious and would love to see how this will evolve. For sure a wine to taste for people who love their Rieslings!

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• 2011 Dönnhoff Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Riesling Beerenauslese

  Germany, Nahe

  Honey nose. To Cornelius Donnhoff the aim in making BA wines is to extend the weight of the wine but without making it taste of botrytis. And indeed here the wine has weight but it also has a light feel (granted it is young) very lush and round with lots of depth. Concentrated and even in its youth a lovely wine . Happy aging our friend.

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• 1990 Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Les Pruliers 89 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru

  The wine starts off with a touch of an off putting smell that blows away after a quick swirl. The nose is quick punchy and although secondary notes dominate still the ripe fruit notes are there. On the palate it is very much alive and firm. Delicate notes to start with good fruit however it also has a light bitter/green feel on the finish. A touch rough in a way and the bitterness increases with time in the glass. Good wine nonetheless and with life in it. Not sure it will improve but happy to have come across it. Pls avoid decanting.

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All in all a very interesting tasting not so much for the wines tasted but for the vintage variations. Not so much an eye opener in the different vineyard characteristics. We found it difficult to rate the wines and in most cases we did not rate them as the wines were too young and as with many sweet wine tastings palate fatigue settles in quickly . Still we liked them all!

Ironically we pretty much spent our 2012 EP budget on buying old and new German Rieslings as we found the 2012 Bordeaux EP campaign a bad and sad Joke.