2022 Riesling Oestricher Lenchen Kabinett

Peter Bernhard Kühn who trained in Morey-St.-Denis, Alsace and Geisenheim has worked alongside his parents Angela and Peter Jakob Kühn since 2012. Now, he runs the estate with his oenologist wife Viktoria (née Peter). Angela and Peter Jakob Kühn took the once humble estate to Germany’s top while also blazing a trail for biodynamics in the then still rather staid Rheingau: “They were courageous enough to explore new ways of doing things, even though they would never say so themselves,” says Peter Bernhard. “But look at what they have done, from a 10th generation, the normal family estate in the village, selling wine in bulk. From this start, they made it into a quality-focused estate, and then, to escape from this corset of prescribed farming, they fled into ecological and biodynamic farming before the zeitgeist changed. It was a liberation for my parents, and it pulled us children in. This ensured the succession here.” The estate has been certified biodynamic since 2004. As of 2023, it takes in 20 hectares, 19 of Riesling and one of Spätburgunder, mostly close to home in the Oestricher Doosberg, Mittelheimer St. Nikolaus, Hallgartener Jungfer and Hendelberg, also the Rüdesheimer Berg Schlossberg and Roseneck in the lease, as well as the Rauenthaler Baiken. The Rieslings are hand-harvested, whole-bunch pressed for 5-6 hours with gentle pressure for the first 3.5 hours, then they are gravity-fed into the cellar for a night of sedimentation. They then ferment spontaneously, still slightly cloudy, in Halbstück, Stück and Doppelstück and stay on gross lees for 10 to 12 months. They are racked once before bottling. Single-site wines stay for another six months on fine lees in stainless steel before bottling. The 2022 vintage was a split before and after the rain – estate wines were harvested in late August, and the main harvest started on 25 September, after the rain and “after the grapes had attained a new balance,” as Peter Bernhard put it. The highest Prädikat made at the estate is Spätlese, even though there were just a few liters of Auslese but too little to be commercialized – so they will go into the family reserve, but the estate usually makes just 5% of nobly sweet wines anyway. The Kühn wines stand out in the Rheingau – for their clarity, their balm-like texture – especially the Doosberg with its herbal savor. During my visit, I tasted current Riesling releases from the 2022, 2021 and 2020 vintages.