2020 Weingut Georg Breuer, Riesling Trocken “Rauenthal Estate” Rheingau, Germany.
One of the best values in the Breuer lineup is the Rauenthal Estate Riesling and this pale straw hued 2020 that I tried recently is utterly delicious, mineral toned and pure with some welcome evolution beginning to soften the reductive and dry edginess, it is drinking nicely. The medium bodied zesty palate is very authentically Breuer and naturally slightly earthy, but with hints of exotic tropical elements with tangerine, muskmelon, green apple, yellow peach, tart quince and mango fruits, along with dried ginger, white blossoms, salt lick, wet flint and green tea notes.I am always impressed with the transparency and rustic charms in these Breuer wines and I have really loved my visits to their tasting room in downtown Rudesheim, both times I visited, back in 2009 and more recently in 2016. This vintage is generous at this stage with nice mouth feel and good acidity, making it pleasing with pork and poultry dishes. Theresa Breuer, a widely admired talent, at Weingut Georg Breuer, has taken, as I’ve mentioned here, a more natural approach to her wines and holistic in her farming of her estate vines, looking for physiological and aroma ripeness, which she feels are more important than must weight numbers. The grapes are only picked when Theresa and her team feel the fruit is perfect, giving the wines a sense of delicacy, transparency and elegance, rather than power or fruit density.
The Weingut Georg Breuer, now run by Theresa Breuer, was one of the key members of Charta, an organization formed to promote a drier style of Rheingau wine and the Breuer’s were early proponents and leaders of this style 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. Bernard, as mentioned in my prior reviews, was also a strong advocate for a vineyard classification system based on geology, historical precedent, and the quality of wines, he also is credited with discovering the potential of the Rauenthal zone, which has become one of the most distinct sites in the Rheingau. The Rauenthal is a unique geological area and is a South facing site, allowing for deep concentration, with deep Phyllite soils with a covering of gravel deposits, it always makes for wines with a lovely perfume of white flowers and a parade of citrus and stone fruits that leans to the yellow (fruit) spectrum of flavors, as this 2020 Rauenthal Estate shows. The fermentations are sponti or started with pied de cuve, vineyards yeasts and fermentation and lees élevage is in large used barrels for the top wines and a mix of barrel and steel for the Estate wines, like this one. While I love all the Breuer Rudesheimer Berg Grand Crus, the more slate driven offerings, especially the Roseneck and the mighty Schlossberg, Theresa’s Rauenthaller Nonnenberg Monopol is iconic stuff, which I highly recommend, along with her Estate bottlings, like this one, plus the newer Lorch additions.
($35 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive