2012 Rieslings from Georg Breuer plus a few older wines

Georg Breuer's Swedish importer Vinunic invited to a tasting of their 2012 Rieslings, moderated by Theresa Breuer.

This tasting confirmed 2012 to be a vintage of rather ripe grapes (but without excessive ripeness), quite pure aromas, and high acidity. I think this is a profile that is excellent for dry wines in a fresh, acid-driven style.

• 2012 Georg Breuer Riesling Sauvage 86 Points

  Germany, Rheingau

  Nose with peach notes, some citrus including some zest, as well as some of the typical Riesling perfume. The palate comes across as completely dry and displays citrus, apple, peach, mineral, good acidity, as well as a firm and mineral-driven aftertaste. Young, but drinks well now, 86 p.
  The 2012 shows a pure style and has rather ripe aromas for a Sauvage, with less of the green apples than in some other vintages. I think consider the fruit notes to be more ripe in Sauvage than in the other 2012 Breue Rieslings, although Sauvage is a lighter wine and more fruit forward. In any case it is a very good vintage for Sauvage!

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2012 Georg Breuer Riesling Terra Montosa 90 Points

  Germany, Rheingau

  Nose with ripe yellow apple, citrus notes including zest, hints of aromatic oil or essence of citrus, mineral, and some spice. The nose is rather powerful. The palate shows powerful concentration and a dominance of citrus notes, in particular lemon and zest, high acidity, noticeable minerality, as well as some spice. Rather young, 90(+) p.
  Compared to the 2012 Sauvage, the 2012 Terra Montosa shows a more muted nose, higher acidity, and it is more citrus-dominated, as well as more foody. The 2012 Terra Montosa is unusually good, and not far behind the vineyard wines.

  Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No

• 2012 Georg Breuer Rüdesheimer Berg Roseneck Riesling 91 Points

  Germany, Rheingau

  Nose with citrus notes including zest, mineral with some mint, just a hint of spice. The nose shows a firm and elegant wine. Palate with powerful concentration, citrus-dominated aromas with grapefruit notes and some zest, powerful minerality, some spice, high acidity, and finally a long and grapefruit-dominated aftertaste with mineral. Young, 91+ p.
  Of the 2012 vineyard wines from Breuer, Roseneck is the most citrus-dominated.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2012 Georg Breuer Rüdesheimer Berg Rottland Riesling 91 Points

  Germany, Rheingau

  Nose with citrus notes including zest, yellow apple, some spice, and mineral. Palate with powerful concentration, citrus-dominated aromas with some yellow apples and green apples as well as some peach, high acidity, mineral, and a hint of spice, as well as a long and citrus-dominated aftertaste. Young, 91+ p.
  Compared to 2p12 Roseneck, this 2012 Rottland shows a bit more powerful and less mineral-packed nose - but this doesn't mean it is lacking in minerality on an absolute scale - and a more powerful and spicy palate.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2012 Georg Breuer Rüdesheimer Berg Schloßberg Riesling 92 Points

  Germany, Rheingau

  Nose with citrus notes and a pronounced zest note, some peach, some perfume including some "heavy" flowery notes - this is an elegant nose. Palate with powerful concentration, a very mineral-dominated attack with mint notes, citrus aromas, some peach and apple in the background, some spice, and finally a citrus- and mineral-dominated aftertaste. Young, 92+ p.
  In the 2012 cintage, Schlossberg shows a bit more of ripe notes than Roseneck and Rottland, but not as much as Nonnenberg. As usual, Schlossberg is in a style that is well suited for cellaring. It can be tricky to judge the true potential of Schlossberg when it is tasted young, so this is the score I'm least certain of.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 2012 Georg Breuer Rauenthaler Nonnenberg Riesling 92 Points

  Germany, Rheingau

  Nose with peach, citrus, some perfume, and some spice. Palate with powerful concentration and noticeable body, citrus notes, peach, high acidity, spice, powerful minerality, and a long aftertaste with citrus and mineral. Rather young, drinks rather well now, 92(+) p.
  Compared to the other three vineyard-designated wines, the 2012 Nonnenberg is the most fruit-dominated, and it shows the most ripe notes.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

We also tasted two older wines, each of them from regular 75 cl bottles as well as a double magnum (300 cl), all of which were sourced directly from Breuer's own cellar.

• 1986 Georg Breuer Rüdesheimer Berg Schloßberg Riesling 89 Points

  Germany, Rheingau

  Deep yellow colour. Nose with yellow apples, citrus, smoke, petroleum, and some spice. A typical "older Riesling nose" with good development. Dry on the palate, quite a bit of mineral, citrus, high acidity, green apple, and typical notes of old Riesling. 89 p
  This 1986 Schlossberg is definitely leaner than more recent vintages.
  From a 75 cl bottle that came directly from Breuer's own cellar.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 1986 Georg Breuer Rüdesheimer Berg Schloßberg Riesling 88 Points

  Germany, Rheingau

  Deep yellow colour going a bit in the golden direction. Nose with ripe yellow apples, some honey, hints of dried fruit, some oranges, some smoke, some spice, old winter apples, and some petroleum. This is a typical older Riesling nose but more typical of an old Auslese than of a dry wine. Dry palate with pronounced minerality, old winter apples, some green apples, spice, and high acidity. 88 p?
  This wine came from a double magnum (300 cl) directly from Breuer's own cellar, and here we were surprised from the start, because it was darker than the wine served from the 75 cl bottle. The "300 cl wine" was also more developed, both nose and palate. The explanation was that the cork had been found to be wet all the way through when the bottle was opened, so the cork wasn't in top condition, although this had not affected the fill level in any noticeable way.
  
  Theresa mentioned that the rare 300 cl bottles, that have a cork with a larger diameter, are handled manually when it comes to filling and corking. If what we had here was a variation that originated from the cork itself or the bottling procedure is difficult to know, but it had resulted in a wine that was a bit more oxidised than expected and therefore further in its development. Magnum bottles at Breuer are filled and corked in the same way as 75 cl bottles, though. At the wine journalist lunch earlier the same day, a comparison between 75 cl bottles and magnum bottles had been made. In that case, the difference had been the one expected, i.e., the larger format bottle was better and fresher in style.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 1991 Georg Breuer Rauenthaler Nonnenberg Riesling 90 Points

  Germany, Rheingau

  Deep yellow colour. Nose with citrus, some green apples, mineral, some smoke, and some petroleum. It gives a slightly cool impression in the nose and is rather developed in style. Dry palate with citrus, green apples, definitely a high acidity, quite a bit of mineral. It displays a rather lean profile and is very fresh. 90 p
  From a 75 cl bottle that came directly from Breuer's own cellar.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

• 1991 Georg Breuer Rauenthaler Nonnenberg Riesling 91 Points

  Germany, Rheingau

  Deep yellow colour. Nose with citrus notes including zest, some yellow apples, some green apples, mineral, some smoke, and petroleum. Dry palate with citrus and some zest, green apples, definitely a high acidity, quite a bit of mineral, a fresh style, and finishes with a long and citrus-dominated aftertaste. 91 p
  From a 300 cl bottle (double magnum) that came directly from Breuer's own cellar. Compared to the 75 cl bottle, this 300 cl bottle shows a slightly deeper nose, with more of a Spätlese/Auslese style, and a slightly more powerful palate. Both the nose and palate come across as younger, but the nose also shows more petroleum notes.

  Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No