2015 Weingut Georg Breuer, Riesling, Rauentaller Nonnenberg “Monopol” Rheingau Germany.
The gorgeous and textural 2015 Nonnenberg Trocken is lush and ripe with great tension and energy, it has turned out to be one of the highlights of the vintage as it has aged and has the potential to go for another decade or more with its dense stuffing of classic Riesling fruit and lively acidity. Theresa Breuer, the director of Weingut Georg Breuer, has taken a more natural approach to her wines and has gone holistic in her farming of her estate vines looking for physiological and aroma ripeness, which she feels are more important than must weight numbers and the grapes are only picked when Theresa and her team feel the fruit is perfect, giving the wines a sense of delicacy, earthy transparency and elegance, rather than power or overtness. This Nonnenberg Monopole, a unique geological area is a South facing site, with deep Phyllite soils with a covering of gravel deposits, always has a lovely perfume of white flowers and a parade of citrus and stone fruits that leans on the yellow spectrum of flavors with wild and pithy peach, apricot and bright kumquat leading the way, as it does in this 2015, adding green apple, brisk mineral and crushed stones. The Nonnenberg definitely has a subtle concentration and palate impact with pleasing and mouth filling weightiness, without being heavy and while having a touch of rawness it is clear and precise throughout, gaining a mature presence in the glass. There is a lot going on here and it keeps your attention peaked with every sip, I really have enjoyed this wine at every stage and admire its saline and stony side that keeps the Nonnenberg’s fruit in focus.
The Weingut Georg Breuer, now run by Theresa Breuer, was one of the key members of Charta, an organization founded before the VDP started their Dry classifications, formed to promote a drier style of Rheingau wine and were proponents and leaders of this style of wine to great effect in the region. Theresa’s late father, Bernard, believed that the Rheingau was perfectly suited to producing very fine, elegant and flavorful dry Rieslings, and he has been proven right, especially in recent years and by his talented daughter. He was also a strong advocate for a vineyard classification system based on geology, historical precedent, and the quality of wines, he is credited with discovering the potential of the Rauenthal, which has become one of the top crus in the Rheingau and in particular Breuer’s incredible Nonnenberg Monopole site, where this amazing dry Riesling comes from. This Rauenthaller Nonnenberg, sourced from Breuer’s all organic vineyard, was fermented with native yeasts and traditionally aged in old wood, is one of the winery’s top dry bottlings along with their slate driven Rudesheimer Berg Schlossberg, and is really a wine that is in league with top Grosses Gewachs. Breuer has a very good collection of parcels from the steep Grand Cru vineyards overlooking the Rhein to the rolling hills of the Rauenthal farther inland as well as in the western edges of the Rheingau in Lorch, all which produce distinct terroir influenced wines. Along with these exceptional Rieslings, Breuer does some easy drinking wines including a Rosé, a light Pinot Noir and a Pinot Gris. I have visited Breuer’s tasting room in Rudesheim a couple of times now and I look forward to visiting them again in future, where I hope to check in on the latest Nonnenberg!
($60 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive