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Kaufmann

Weingut Kaufmann is at once a new and old Rheingau estate. Urban Kaufmann owned and ran a large and prestigious cheese producing company in his native Switzerland, while Eva Raps – a native of Franken who originally trained as a chef – was long-time managing director of the VDP. Both harbored dreams of becoming wine growers. In late 2013, the couple teamed-up to purchase the roughly 40 acre Hattenheim VDP estate of Hans Lang, which they immediately began to farm biodynamically, doing much of the vineyard labor themselves (including within one prime parcel at the heart of the Wisselbrunnen where the convention is that none of their hired workers so much as set foot). For a time, some wines will still be released in parallel under the extant Hans Lang label – mostly to serve its existing customers – but in my tastings I concentrated with just one exception on those bottled under the new Kaufmann label. Subsequent to my August 2017 tasting visit, Kaufmann and Raps achieved one of their coveted proximate aims: Demeter certification. Another recently-realized goal is the (in Kaufmann’s words) “massive expansion” of holdings planted to Pinot Noir (currently around 12% of the estate’s vine surface). Kaufmann’s initial efforts with that grape are definitely promising, and revive an ancient but recently much-neglected Hattenheim tradition with the grape (though he will also be drawing from parcels in Hallgarten). Interestingly, his sole winery experience prior to the establishment of his eponymous estate was working at Schloss Bachtobel, which will serve as a recommendation to anyone familiar with the high standards of that Swiss estate and its Pinots.

Pinot Blanc and Chardonnay were picked in late September, 2016 and Riesling from early October, but Kaufmann and Raps took advantage of the clear, cool weather that followed to strategize their harvest and take their time. Some parcels were picked twice, with those bunches that appeared optimal being left on the vine the first time around. Their intuition was that both accumulated know-how and Nature’s collaboration would result in wines even more impressive than those from their first two seasons as wine growers. As enthusiastic as I am about the advent of Weingut Kaufmann, among their dry wines I found the 2016s somewhat less satisfying – and certainly a bit more austere – than the 2015s I tasted. The couple has the impression that their vines never really shut-down under the pressure of 2015’s heat and drought, but just kept metabolizing. Still, they were able to let Riesling hang through September of that year. Embarking on their venture in 2014 was doubtless challenging, as vineyard conditions necessitating rigorous rot-removal at a time when Kaufmann and Raps did not have as stable, motivated or well-tuned a picking crew as in subsequent vintages; but they certainly made a success of the 2014 Wisselbrunnen I tasted. With the exception of their barely off-dry bottling designated “Kabinett,” all of the Kaufmann wines I tasted are legally trocken; they just don’t advertise that on their labels.

From Rheingau and Mittelrhein Riesling 2016: Stress Test (Jul 2018) by David Schildknecht

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2015 Spätburgunder Hans Lang trocken

Release Price: $21

Color: Red

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Kaufmann

2015 Spätburgunder Hans Lang trocken

2015 Spätburgunder

2015 Spätburgunder Hattenheimer Hassel

2016 Uno

2016 Riesling

2015 Riesling

2016 Riesling Hatttenheimer

2015 Riesling Hatttenheimer

2016 Riesling Tell

2015 Riesling Tell

2016 Riesling Hattenheimer Hassel Grosses Gewächs

2016 Riesling Hattenheimer Wisselbrunnen Grosses Gewächs

2015 Riesling Hattenheimer Wisselbrunnen Grosses Gewächs

2014 Riesling Hattenheimer Wisselbrunnen trocken

2016 Riesling Kabinett

2015 Riesling Kabinett

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