2022 Riesling Kabinett

In 2013, Urban Kaufmann bought Weingut Hans Lang in Hattenheim and re-named it Kaufmann in 2016. His first proper vintage after arriving in November 2013 was in 2014. Kaufmann now runs it with Eva Raps, and it is a dream come true for both of them. Raps had worked for the VDP’s headquarters for almost two decades, while Kaufmann was one of Switzerland’s foremost cheese makers in Appenzell. He gave it all up for this new start in the Rheingau. “The ten years passed quickly,” he says, “but they were not easy. It only started to flow in the last four years.” They farm 19 hectares, most of them in Hattenheim and Hallgarten, with 65% of Riesling and 20% Pinot Noir with the rest covered by Pinots Blanc and Gris and Chardonnay. In their first year, they grubbed up 3% of their Riesling vines to plant Pinot Noir and added one further hectare of Pinot Noir and half a hectare of Chardonnay to get to their current size. The estate has been certified organic since 2012 and biodynamic since 2017. Riesling is both machine- and hand-harvested. Grapes are slightly crushed and do receive some skin contact of 4-6 hours, longer in cooler years. The juice is clarified by flotation and fermented with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel, Doppelstück. Should ferments not go through, cultured yeasts are used. The Rieslings show the richness and texture of the local soils, and are rounded but properly dry and savory with salty yeast. The ambition for fine-boned Pinot Noir is evident. Kaufmann notes that for Hattenheim’s (and some of Hallgarten’s) deeper soils, the drought was not as dramatic as in the stonier, steeper areas of the Rheingau, as there is some water retention, but ripening was nonetheless affected. Harvest started on 5th September for all the Pinot-varieties which all came in in good health before the rain. “Then the rain came,” remembers Kaufmann. “The Riesling soaked it up, meaning Oechsle levels went down. We had to decide between healthy grapes and must weights and nothing had more than 84° to 88° Oechsle.” But he notes that the grapes, despite the lower sugar levels, were ripe, “with lovely brown pips and tasted good” and showed no bitter signs of dry stress. He decided to chaptalize minimally for the mid and upper segment but says he learned that “Oechsle are not the measure of all things,” but physiological ripeness is. During my visit, I tasted 2022 Riesling and a 2021 GG, as well as Pinot Noir from 2022 and 2020.