2022 Riesling Rüdesheimer Berg Rottland

Theresa Breuer has been at the helm of her family estate since 2004. She had just finished school in 2003 when her father Bernhard Breuer, a great visionary and instigator of site classification in the Rheingau, died at just 58 years of age. Breuer started studying international wine business in nearby Geisenheim, while learning on the job at home at the same time, alongside longstanding estate director and then winemaker Hermann Schmoranz. To gain international experience, Breuer worked with Jeffrey Grosset in the Clare Valley, Australia. Schmoranz is still at her side, due to retire in the coming year, but since 2010, he has focused on vineyard management while cellar master Markus Lundén has been making the wines. In 2022, she completed an MBA in Wine Business Management at Geisenheim. Breuer farms 40 hectares, of which 38 are in production; 27 hectares are in Rüdesheim, 6.2 hectares are in Rauenthal, and 6.8 hectares in Lorch. With 85% of plantings, Riesling is her main variety, followed by 10% Pinot Noir, with the remaining 5% taken up by Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc and two “small museum parcels” of Gelber Orleans and Weisser Heunisch, two varieties of historic importance in the Rheingau. Since 2011, the vineyards have been farmed organically, and sustainability certification from fair’n’green followed in 2013. All grapes are harvested by hand and whole bunch pressed. Theresa Breuer notes that she prefers earlier harvests. The juice either sediments or is clarified by flotation overnight; the handling is oxidative, and no sulfur dioxide is added, so phenolics can oxidize and fall out. There is no temperature control in the cellar, and it depends on the year whether indigenous or cultured yeasts are used. In 2022, all was fermented with cultured yeasts, both in stainless steel and in wood. There is one small sulfur dioxide addition after ferment and the wines stay on gross lees until bottling. The wines are strait-laced and come with a kind of honesty that is completely free of any frills, any make-up, any affection. The 2022 harvest started on 1 September, before the rain, and concluded on 29 September. During my visit, I tasted the 2022 Rieslings, the 2021 Pinot Noir and 2017 Riesling Rüdesheimer Berg Roseneck, which is the current release.