2022 Riesling Vom Vulkan

Gut Hermannsberg encapsulates quite a bit of recent German history. It was founded in 1901/1902 as one of several Prussian State Domaines, built in the Riesling regions of Rheingau, Mosel and Nahe to become model estates for best practice and undertake state-funded research trials. Whatever you may think of so-called Prussian virtues, here, determination and single-mindedness worked wonders. What we know today as Schlossböckelheimer Kupfergrube was blasted into a volcanic hillside cleared of shrubs because they knew it would make the ideal south-facing, rocky site on which world-class Riesling would thrive. It remained state property throughout the two World Wars, and afterward, its last public owner was the federal state of Rheinland-Pfalz, who sold it to a private investor in 1998. In 2009, the estate’s renaissance began when Jens Reidel and Dr. Christine Dinse bought it. Their aim was and is to do justice to these exceptional sites. They hired Karsten Peter as the winemaker and Achim Kirchner to run the business side. Since then, the wines have gone from strength to strength. The 30 hectares are in classified sites only, chiefly in the Schlossböckelheimer Kupfergrube (over which you have a magnificent view from the tasting room) and Felsenberg, the Niederhäuser Hermannsberg and Steinberg, the Traiser Bastei and the Altenbamberger Rotenberg. They also have a monopole parcel called Rossel, formerly known as Kertz, which is not vinified separately but forms part of the 7 Terroirs and Steinterrassen Rieslings. The style is uncompromising, bone dry, but also more textural. The Kupfergrube Grosses Gewächs is now released five years after harvest. The current release is thus 2018, which will be in the market in September 2023. This process was gradual, starting with some immediate and some delayed releases of the 2015 vintage. Two thousand seventeen was the first Kupfergrube to have a five-year delay in release. The Riesling Hermannsberg Grosses Gewächs also enjoys late release here. Two thousand nineteen will be the first vintage in the market in 2024 with a five-year delay without a prior partial release. Fizz lovers should note that Gut Hermannsberg also makes a single-site Sekt from two specially farmed parcels in the Kupfergrube – it is amongst the best and tautest Rieslingsekts I have tried – leaning into the stoney expression of Riesling rather than its fruit. The first Sekt vintage released was 2014 – this usually is their auction wine, also in 2023. For still wines, because 2022 was such a dry year, Peter employed less skin contact and left the wines on gross lees so they could benefit from the generosity and softness of the yeast – something he felt they needed. The main harvest started in mid-September and concluded on 11 October. During my visit, I tasted the current Riesling releases from 2022. For the Bastei GG, the current release is 2021; for the Hermannsberg and Kupfergrube GGs, the current release is 2018. I will taste the Sekts later for a separate report.