2012 Weingut Georg Breuer, Riesling Trocken, Rüdesheimer Berg Roseneck, Rheingau Germany.
I’ve always loved the Breuer wines, they are always authentic and all have their own personalities, especially their Monopol Nonnenberg, Rauenthal and Rudesheimer Berg Crus, like their awesome Schlossberg and this lovely and slightly earthy Roseneck Trocken, which is basically a non VDP Grosses Gewachs and a wine of delicacy and presence. I have visited the small cellars in old town Rudesheim twice now and recently tasted a selection of library of Theresa Breuer’s Rieslings in San Francisco, which I found remarkable, and it reminded me of this beautiful Roseneck that I had notes of, but had not put online. Breuer like Diel, were two of the first to promote drier styles of Riesling and have embraced organic farming and a more natural style of winemaking, which is not an easy path, but one they have done well and the current set of Theresa’s Rieslings are some of the best yet from this historic small family winery that originally was founded back in 1880, though named Georg Breuer after WWI, and I again was impressed with the progress of these older Rieslings, including the 2006 Noonenberg and the 2013 Beg Roseneck, which has been re-released by the winery through Skurnik Wines and Terry Theise. Theresa and cellar master Markus Lunden have formed a strong bond and vision for this winery and I highly recommend exploring the latest releases, especially everything from 2015 through 2018, which is looking pretty awesome, and of course that older wines if you find them, just know these are not flashy wines, they are wines that require attention and have a certain raw sex appeal and earthy charm.
The 2012, a solid vintage, is a prize for those that was subtly and lightness in their Rieslings, this dry wine enjoys careful study in the glass with its pale golden hue and stony and flinty core, it is not overly fruit forward, in fact it takes some deep concentration to see into this Roseneck’s layers that slowly reveal themselves with crispness of form and you get green apple, lime, nectarine, peach pit and verbena along with a hint of mineral oil, wet (smoky) shale and a seashore element with mouth watering saline and a lingering rosewater note. Time and air fill this wine out further and it becomes much less serve and less austere, but no less dry and taught, this is serious stuff and is best enjoyed with matching cuisine, I recommend Toro and or fresh Sashimi which will also enjoy the secondary characteristics that are just now starting to come out in this fine Berg Roseneck Trocken. The Breuer’s also have a great restaurant in Rudesheim not far from their tasting room and the iconic Rosengarten vineyard which sits right downtown below the Roseneck Grand Cru, and I have had some great food and wine there, with their well stocked cellar, that includes some very old bottles at reasonable prices. Theresa, who runs Weingut Georg Breuer, uses careful selection, almost exclusively without botrytis and employs indigenous fermentation(s), natural or started with pied de cuve from the vineyard with her fermentation and elevage being completed in large used barrels for the top wines like this one, she focuses primarily in the vineyards and she is very basic in the cellar, allowing the individual sites and terroir to express itself, as this 2012 Berg Roseneck does with distinction.
$48 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive