2018 KREUZNACHER KRÖTENPFUHL RIESLING KABINETT DÖNNHOFF - 3x150cl

Tasting Notes

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  Wine Advocate, July 2018,
  Score: 87+

  The 2018 Kreuznacher Krötenpfuhl Riesling Kabinett is precise and aromatic on the nose, where ripe stone fruit (peach) aromas are displayed. Lush and round on the palate, this is a piquant and aromatic, very attractive and rather early-drinking Spätlese with remarkably fresh acidity. Stimulating. Drink 2024 - 2033

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  Vinous, June 2020,
  Score: 92

  Fresh pear and apple are tinged with ginger and sea breeze on the nose, then succulently deployed on a buoyant, polished palate. The mouthwateringly salt-tinged finish is transparent to shimmering stony notes and a mysterious ore-like earthiness surprisingly reminiscent of Hermannshöhle. “The grapes were almost too ripe for Kabinett,” remarked Dönnhoff of this bottling, “but you still have that citric sense of acidity.” Had he succumbed to his inclination to start picking a week later than the estate in fact did, we would not have a Krötenpfuhl Kabinett – an observation that Dönnhoff, with a smile, declines to contradict. The wine weighs in at 9.5% alcohol, and I don’t think it would have benefited from one gram less residual sugar than whatever it has.

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  Jancis Robinson, May 2019,
  Score: 16.5

  Very ripe citrus on the nose and on the palate, super-intense lemon fruit. Surprising that this does not taste really sweet – it is sweet but the freshness is sufficient to balance, even though they had to acidify some lots in 2018. Juicy and creamy. Such intense citrus. Still very primary. (JH) Drink 2020 - 2028

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Producer

Helmut Dönnhoff

Dönnhoff is one the best producers in all of Germany and the estate is arguably the most famous outside of the Mosel valley. The family domaine dates from 1750 and is comprised of 28-hectares in the Nahe, a region located southeast of the Mosel. Its climate unexpectedly evokes the Mediterranean, and its soils are comparable to the Mosel with the addition of clay, though not as steep. The combination of these 2 elements seems to give the best of both worlds - the focus and minerality of the Mosel as well as the fleshy fruit of Germany's warmer regions. The vines have been passed on from father to son to grandson and now the fourth generation holds the reins. Cornelius Dönnhoff took over from his father Helmut in 2007 after 8 years of training. Cornelius continues his father's natural (and perfectionsit) winemaking philiopshy, producing wines of extraordinary power, concentration and complexity. Indeed, they are penetrating and tasting them is like listening to excerpts of the world's greatest arias. One cannot help but be reminded why German wines used to command the prices of first growth Bordeaux. Spellbinding and thought-provoking, they are worth discovering.