2022 Weingut Künstler, Riesling Trocken, Hochheim Hölle, VDP Grosses Gewächs, Rheingau Germany.
The gorgeously crystalline and youthful 2022 Künstler Hochheim Hölle GG, which I tasted from a barrel sample and comes out this fall, is an outstanding dry Riesling with poise and finesse that should get close to perfection, possessing a depth and concentration that rises above the norm and thrills the palate. I was really excited to taste through Gunter Künstler’s latest wines recently at his importer Skurnik Wines’ trade show in San Francisco and I was not disappointed with the excellence of his offerings, I’m only sad he wasn’t’on this year’s tour. This chiseled 2022 Hölle GG, ultra pale gold in the glass and steely firm in structure shows off this vineyard’s classic lemony yellow fruits, with citron oil, peach, pineapple, tart kumquat, green apple and quince, along with subtle leesy notes, salty wet rock, snappy gingery spices, rosewater, lime zest and bitter almond. There’s a lot more to come here and this is easily a 20 year plus wine and as I’ve found in perfectly aged Künstler Trockens, I expect it to fill out texturally and blossom in the way great white Burgundies do, definitely this is a masterpiece in waiting for the patient Riesling fans. As noted before, Gunter Künstler’s family winery was founded in Hochheim am Main, in 1965 by Gunter’s father Franz, with Gunter taking over In 1992, after which its fortunes began to rise quickly. In 1994 the Künstler estate was admitted to the VDP, and since then it has become maybe the most iconic grower of the “Hoch” zone and one of Germany’s best. The historic sleepy Hochheim am Main, doesn’t always get a lot of attention, but it truly is one of Germany’s most distinctive terroirs, and it was a favorite of Thomas Jefferson, who famously visited Germany and the region here back in 1788 and wrote about the delicious wines he found.
Gunter Künstler, who’s family has been involved in winemaking since 1648, is one of Rheingau’s greatest producers based at the confluence of the Main and Rhein rivers in the “Hoch” sub zone, which along with Rudesheim one of the most historic winemaking villages in Germany. This area takes heroic farming effort to overcome the humid conditions to produce crystalline dry Rieslings without Botrytis and Kunstler is working these amazing sites with organic practices and his wines are some of the most elegant and monumental dry wines in Europe, this is especially true here with Gunter’s Hölle GG. In my experience, this Grand Cru vineyard, Hölle, which is set on a dense/hardened clay and Marl, which gives a core of yellow fruits, subtle minerallity and allows for a seductive perfume with refined acidity that shines through. Typically, with this wine, Gunter employs a gentle hand in the winemaking, allowing gravity to settle the must at cool temperatures, using a special yeast strain that brings out the delicacy in the Riesling grown here and either ages it in Stuckfass and or stainless depending on the vintage. Künstler’s wines are a reflection of the year and always show fabulous detail and focus, as this soon to be released 2022 sample shows to near perfection. As I’ve mentioned, Künstler has a vast collection of Rheingau Cru plots from Hochheim to Assmannshausen, where he has an amazing parcel in the fabled Hollenberg Vineyard where he gets some his Pinot Noir, plus Gunter has some Rudesheimer Berg GG vines in Rottland and Schlossberg, which are intense with slate vigor, as well as some quartzite influenced blocks in the Drachenstein, which is one of my favorites. I was, as I am usually, with the latest Künstler wines, in particular their Kostheim Weiss Erd GG, the new Pfaffenberg Monopol GG, the Hochheim Kirchenstück GG and this stunning Hochheim Hölle, do not miss them!
($65 Est.) 97+ Points, grapelive