2023 Weingut Dönnhoff, Riesling Trocken, Felsenberg, Grosses Gewächs, Nahe Germany.
The Dönnhoff Schlossböckelheimer Felsenberg VDP Grosse Lage or Grand Cru site is set on porphyry dominated soils, which are volcanic influenced and is quite distinctive in the wines that come from here and this is very much the case with Dönnhoff’s outstanding 2023 Felsenberg GG barrel sample I tried recently at Skurnik Imports West Coast Germany and Austria portfolio tasting. Without quest the critically acclaimed 2022 vintage were exceptional wines, but I was curious to get a preview of the 2023s, and I was not disappointed, with Dönnhoff being some of the best examples, in particular their set of GGs, with this ’23 Felsenberg being close to my favorite with its spicy and slightly austere start and its intense mineral driven nature. Once given a moment to come alive in the glass this pale greenish/gold dry Riesling opens up to becoming a monumental and profound wine with heightened aromas and flavors that excite the senses. The medium bodied and racy palate shows layers of complexity with a mixed array of powerful forces engaging you, including lime blossom, tangerine, smoky rock, white peach, muskmelon, tart green apple, bitter almond, verbena and quince playing roles here. This wine is absolutely electric and zingy, but there’s an underlying vinous depth that makes you take notice and it lingers on and on with extreme persistence and length adding rosewater, tropical essences and tea spices, there’s some real potential here and I wouldn’t want to miss seeing what is going to happen in 5 to 10 years!
The spicy intense Felsenberg Grand Cru (GG) dry Riesling from Donnhoff is simply out of this world, and like I’ve said before here in my reviews, it is very different and unique wine and site in the collection of amazing vineyard that Dönnhoff has above the Nahe River, I can only explain that Felsenberg is to Hermannshöle, is like what Batard-Montrachet is to Corton-Charlemagne! In some ways, I can compare the Dönnhoff GGs to Grand Cru Chablis, especially Le Clos, as they are steely and mineral driven, more so than the wines of the Côte de Beaune and I mean that they are similar in class, even though the Rieslings here are very much varietal in the purest sense, it is just way of conveying just how fantastic they are and helps to explain where they sit in the peak of dry white wines, and they are maybe better, especially from what I recently tasted rom Dönnhoff! The mature and organically farmed vines in the Felsenberg cru are on steep slopes and are perfect to produce dry Riesling treasures, as seen with this 2023. It should be noted again that the Dönnhoff Riesling vines are all old clones and are quite distinctive in character and add tons of terroir personality, in particular in their Grand Cru wines, such as Klamm, Brücke, Leistenberg, Felsenberg, Kirschheck, Dellchen, Krötenpfuhl, Kahlenberg, and Höllenpfad. There’s exceptional quality throughout the range at Dönnhoff and I, as noted before, am a huge fan of these wines and highly recommend them all, with my personal favorites being the Leistenberg Kabinett, the Hermannshöhle GG, the Tonschiefer Riesling Trocken and this one. It was great to catch up on the latest releases from Dönnhoff, with their 2022 showing fantastically well and 2023s too, please note the 2023 GGs will be a year away from release, and all are wines to stock up on!
($89 Est.) 96-98 Points, grapelive