2020 Riesling Saar

As Roman Niewodniczanski’s estate has grown to more than 200 acres (circa 85 hectares), the number of individual bottlings per vintage has also ballooned. This increase reflects far more than just recent vineyard acquisitions (including the amazingly ambitious restoration of the Geisberg vineyard east of Ockfener Bockstein). Two further factors are the increasing number of residually sweet wines, where for many years there were only a few of these per vintage; and the emergence – in keeping with VDP marketing structures (or strictures) – of village-level (“Ortswein”) bottlings, though given their fantastic quality in 2020, I certainly don’t regret the emergence of that classificatory tier at this address! Finally, there is a late-release program involving a portion of most site-specific wines that, after initial élevage, is stored in horizontal pressure tanks for several or more years. (This late-release program resembles that of the Cantina Terlano in Italy’s Alto Adige, a.k.a. Südtirol, but on a far more ambitious scale. For background on the Van Volxem estate generally, including its enormous ambitions, perfectionist practices and distinctive style, consult the introductions to my reports on its wines from vintages 2014–2017.)

The huge news from this estate, announced in late 2021, is that after more than 17 years as cellarmaster, Dominik Völk – who is universally given enormous credit for the quality achieved at Van Volxem – has departed for the Karthäuserhof; and in late March of this year, Roman Niewodniczanski announced the members of a new team, which includes Christoph Friedrich as cellarmaster. (Friedrich long held that post, and later that of adviser, at Schlossgut Diel in the Nahe.)

Due to the tightness of my schedule and Roman Niewodniczanski’s many commitments, I was only able to speak with him relatively briefly during my November 2021 visit (and Völk had just departed). Niewodniczanski was typically upbeat, though not notably informative, on the subject of both vintages under consideration. Nor was I able to taste by any means all of the wines of vintage 2020, let alone of 2019. (Missing from the 2020s are the Ritterpfad, Goldberg and Bockstein Grosse Gewächse plus a “V.V.” – and from the 2019s too many wines to mention them all by name.) But an enormous array of bottles was amassed for my assessment, and all of those tasted are reviewed below. It strikes me that the strong lees influence and corresponding emphasis that Niewodniczanski places on textural allure have proven ideally suited to the fruit that this estate harvested in 2020, and the resulting remarkable dry wines display consistent buoyancy, clarity and precision previously unequaled at this address. What a tribute to the long collaboration of Niewodniczanski with outgoing cellarmaster Völk! Surprisingly, given the typical approach here and the general character of that vintage, I found the Van Volxem 2019 Grosse Gewächse that I tasted to be relatively firm, reticent and austere, yet impressive in their density and palate persistence. They seem especially in need of time. (Note that virtually all, if not all, of those wines that aren’t Prädikat-designated are legally trocken, though, as ever, the word trocken does not appear on their labels.)