2021 Weingut Künstler, Riesling Trocken, Erbacher Marcobrunn, Grosses Gewächs, Rheingau, Germany.
The beautifully aromatic, bright gold and mineral intense Künstler Marcobrunn GG comes from a full VDP Grosse Lage vineyard near Hattenheim, most renown for Riesling and with a long history, especially under the famous Kloster Eberbach, making for an intriguing and haunting wine that possesses fine chiseled details, but a full bodied richness. This wine is very much a Gunter Künstler wine with sublime depth and purity, showing off heightened florals, peachy fruit and texture that reminds you of an excellent white Burgundy, but with a steely precision and Riesling acidity. I usually go back and forth between Künstler’s powerful slatey Rüdesheimer Berg Schlossberg and the luscious and dense Hölle, but this Marcobrunn is a worthy middle ground and fabulous in this vintage, with an array of lime led citrus and the stone fruit core. I must say I was thrilled by the set of 2021 GGs at Künstler that I sampled earlier this Summer and really look forward to dig into the much heralded 2022 in their final versions and upcoming 2023s. That said, don’t overlook these ’21s, with Künstler you really have no reason to pass them up, and this very seductive Marcobrunn, with its background of crystalized ginger, verbena and white flowers is terribly hard to resist, nor would you want to.
Founded in 1965, the Weingut Künstler based in Hochheim Main/Rheingau has become one of the finest estates in Germany with Gunter Künstler at the helm and I’ve long been a fan of these richly concentrated and elegant dry Rieslings. In particular the monumental Kirchenstück and Hölle GGs, but in recent years Gunter has added some new gems, like this VDP Grosse Lage Erbacher Marcobrunn and the GG Kostheimer Weiss Erd, as well as the Hattenheimer Pfaffenberg Monopol Grosses Gewächs. The new 2021 Künstler “Marcobrunn” Grosses Gewächs comes from mature vines that I believe were planted in 1935 and 1981, with this vintage being the first GG Gunter has done from this site. Künstler is working towards full organic and usually employs a traditional fermentation and aging in large wooden barrel or füder. Over the years, I’ve learned that Künstler lets his musts settle by gravity and then are gently pressed clear and uses a selected culture (yeast) because, as his importer Skurnik notes, it’s often still warm when grapes are being picked and to work sponti would mean a greater risk of volatile acidity. The leanings here are to wood cask, especially for the more serious GGs, like this one, as opposed to just steel, though some wines and vintages go exclusively into inbox tank. This perfumed and delicately spiced Marcobrunn has a lot to offer Riesling fans and it should be on your wish list!
($95 Est.) 95 Points, grapelive