2016 Weingut Kruger-Rumpf, Riesling Trocken, Dautenpflanzer, Grosses Gewachs, Nahe Germany.
This gorgeous blisteringly dry Riesling from Georg Rumpf at Kruger-Rumpf is one you’ll want to give it some time to develop, it is a powerful and complex wine made from very old vines (ancient Nahe Clone 365 Finkenaurer) in the steep amphitheater of the Grand Cu Munsterer Dautenpflanzer on a mix of Loess and Quartzite. The wonderfully detailed Dautenpflanzer GG is thrilling, showing a tension filled palate with remarkable depth and inner beauty, less concentrated than 2011 or 2015, this stunning 2016 has a bright liquid sunshine burst of acidity and shimmering mineral core, this might proof legendary, this wine has such an impact and intensity you can’t take yours eyes off of it’s light/pale golden hue in the glass and your attention to it’s extract in the mouth. With air this dry Riesling opens to reveal tart apricot, zest lime citrus, green apple and tangerine fruits with subtle tropical events, spiced white flowers, white tea, wet stone and steely charm, think Emmerich Knoll Loibner meets Francois Raveneau Montee de Tonnerre! Absolutely brilliant and stylish throughout the Kruger-Rumpf Dautenpflanzer is certainly one of the great white wines of the world and this 2016 vintage, while severe and slightly austere now, looks set to blossom into a classic and has elegant layers and faint floral perfume, which gets exotic and intoxicating when isolated in your mind, it’s pure, focused and lovingly crafted, pressed whole cluster with about 6 hours of skin contact, ferments are natural/native and it’s raised for a short time in neutral stuckfass (old ovals of oak) before finishing it’s aging in stainless tank to preserve freshness, while still having a leesy mouth feel and expansion. Lingering ferrous notes, saline, light herb, jasmine and peach flesh make this crisp GG very seductive and hint at it’s glorious and rewarding future, best to allow this Dautenpflanzer a period of time, about 5 to 7 years, in bottle to gather all of it’s potential and grace, but oh man, you’ll want this stuff in your cellar!
($48 Est.) 96 Points, grapelive
