These 85 tasting notes were taken in August 2015 during a visit to the Pfalz and Rheinhessen regions. Together, they ably demonstrate the full diversity of German winemaking – for more details, read my accompanying article Pfalz pretences.
The tasting notes are arranged in alphabetical order by producer (sur)name, then in order of tasting.
WEINGUT AM NIL
12 months on lees. 3,000 bottles made.
Smart, sharp palate...
Picked over four weeks. Pungent and herby with a sweaty green...
Neutral, plain white fruit. Slightly pétillant on the palate...
Light lime aroma. Floral character on the palate, dry finish...
Reasonably straightforward nose. Lots of salinity on the palate...
Matured in 500-litre oak barrels, 25% of which were new.
Tight...
100% new oak. Served chilled.
Sweet floral aroma. Redcurrant...
BISCHEL
Apple, salt, smoky flint and a very slight lick of sweetness on...
Reductive notes on the nose giving a sulphurous edge. Tight...
Smoke and spice on the nose, lovely pure lemon on the palate...
DREISSIGACKER
Juicy, dry, simple fragrance. Light and zesty. Straightforward...
Orange peel, lemon zest, honey, blossom, ripe fruit. Direct...
Juicy, tropical fruit with a cooked vegetal character. Totally...
Restrained, tense citrus fruit. Savoury and dry on the finish...
Stewed apricot and lemon with honeycomb and crystallised ginger...
Tank sample. Some pungent sulphur, understandably. Great fruit...
Macerated for 6-7 days. High disease pressure in this vintage...
Superb interplay of sugar and acid in the way that Riesling does...
Soy, black cherry, smoke – wonderful nose with a lovely clove...
KRUGER-RUMPF
Very ripe style – baked apple, pineapple, melon. Juicy acidity...
As with their Binger Riesling, this is an overripe, candied...
Thick and ripe, and behaves very much like a sweeter style until...
Acid that punches straight through the sweetness – a great feat...
MUSSLER
Pungent, herbal, grassy, quite light and soft on the palate. (RH...
Quite neutral nose, creamy palate with apricot, peach and toffee...
Quite a prickly sulphur scent, then apricot and sweet citrus...
Aged in 500 litre oak for six months.
Sweet cream with bitter...
Grape juice, white flowers, a pinch of bitter lemon. Simple, dry...
High acid and pithy citrus. Lime juice, green apple and lemon...
Herby, stemmy, ripe red fruit with a dark smoky edge. Full of...
75% Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, 25% Lemberger.
Fairly non...
Sweet red fruit, high acid, light body, bitter finish. (RH)
Modern, fragrant, sweet oak, vanilla; dry but very ripe. Classic...
ODINSTAL
Magnum only. 18 months on lees.
Acidity rules the palate – a...
Cloudy gold colour. Conventionalists be warned! 60% oak, 40%...
Lime marmalade and a seaweed sort of herby note. Chewy texture...
Honey and lime zest, floral perfume, more substance and...
Salty, volcanic – definite lava stink here. Has a quality...
Slinks out of the glass – bright but with a creamy character too...
From vineyards 350 metres above sea level.
Quite suppressed...
Very little aroma, but sufficient fruit on the palate with well...
REICHSRAT VON BUHL
RS 6.9 g/l, TA 10.2 g/l. 7 mg free SO2. First wine made by the...
RS 0.6 g/l, TA 9.2 g/l.
Ripe vegetal character, brisk citrus...
Production of 50,000 bottles. RS 0.8 g/l. Blend of seven...
RS 0.7 g/l, TA 8.7 g/l.
Subtle oil aromas, lime juice, snappy...
Honeyed nose, fragrant and slaty. Operatic Riesling – epic fruit...
Apricot, peach, honey and caramel. Completely beautiful – so...
Similar fruit quality to their Ungeheuer – almost tropical...
Onion skin colour. Proper red fruit aromas on the nose. Bone dry...
RS 110 g/l. Pineapple, melon, cherry – really fruity yet dainty...
Relatively restrained nose, but extravagant and indulgent on the...
RIFFEL
Salty nose, white fruit in a fairly light mode. Medium bodied...
Savoury palate yet has a boiled sweet and ripe citrus fruit...
Cooked vegetables on the nose – some underripeness? Has an...
Rich and quite thickly textured. Finishes dry, but has a...
White currant, lime juice, metallic and steely on the nose...
Quite a creamy and dairy-scented nose. Lemon posset? Dry and...
Ripe vegetal character, blackcurrant leaf, juicy and bold...
Open, succulent nose with oil and petrol alongside the ripe...
RS 16 g/l. Only subtley sweet, with plenty of ripe fruit and...
Impressive nose of roses, lemon cordial, herbs, white fruit and...
MARKUS SCHNEIDER
Great vibrancy and purity, but not overtly fruity. Satisfying...
Rich ochre colour, sweet oak scent giving vanilla, clove and...
Very bright fruit: lemon curd, slate and granite – proper goût...
Very floral character – almost like Muscat with rose and violet...
From Saumagen. Developed, ripe, honey and a touch of caramel and...
Gold. Creamy, white coffee, honey, dairy. Smoky and saline. Has...
Stunning fruit and pepper scent. Beautifully crafted – the scent...
Stemmy notes and quite baked fruit. Smoked bacon and hickory...
Merlot and Cabernet Franc.
Opulent, bursting with fruit, and...
Merlot and Cabernet Franc.
The astonishing thing about this wine...
Fortified. Made from Cabernet Cubin, a 1970s cross of...
STRAUCH
100% Pinot Blanc.
No sulphur, no dosage. Ripe yellow fruit...
Dosage 6 g/l.
Juicy, snappy, green citrus. Smooth and drinkable...
Dosage 9 g/l.
Lemon and lime fruit, pithy palate with a simple...
95% Chardonnay with 5% Pinots Meunier and Noir blended in.
Very...
Scheurrebe, Muscat and Gewurztraminer.
Weird honey and bitter...
VON WINNING
Melon, citrus and acidity that bucks like a bronco. Great power...
Acacia, honey, lime pickle, sherbet, bitter leaf – all well...
Golden Delicious apple, honey and spice. Dry and layered with...
Honeyed, broad, honeysuckle, mandarin and lime flavours. Rich...
Pretty prominent oak for Riesling. Tropical fruit with ripe...
Textural rather than fruity, and has a salinity and flint...
75% oak aged, of which 15% was new, for 12 months.
Bold nose with...
Aged 18 months in barrel. Quite cooked fruit, and a smoky...
