Berry Bros – New Release – Dönnhoff’s Dazzling 2020s
There are some producers who really get the pulse racing at the annual VDP wine auction in Bad Kreuznach. Egon Müller and Weingut Keller may break all the records financially – double magnums of Keller’s Pettenthal Grosses Gewächs (GG) fetched a jaw-dropping €16,100 each last year – but at the Nahe auction the lot all the local afficionados are watching is Dönnhoff’s coveted Monople, Oberhäuser Brücke GG. This is the undisputed King of the Nahe and the finest and rarest of Dönnhoff’s peerless array of ‘Grand Cru’ dry Rieslings.
A series of great vintages, unanimously glowing reviews, and a long overdue renaissance of Riesling as a prized genre among international collectors, have all pushed up Dönnhoff’s prices on the secondary market, the GGs in particular. That is well deserved and I would not be at all surprised if demand continues to push prices northwards, particularly in vintages as brilliant as 2020. Cellar now, or forever hold your peace.
The Vintage
2020 was a consistently sunny and dry vintage, something that increasingly seems to be the norm in Germany – though sadly, and in some instances tragically, not in 2021. You feel that warmth in the texture of these 2020s but the fruit remains resolutely fresh, flirting only occasionally with tropical notes in vineyards with southeast facing aspects and richer soils. The wines also have a slightly piquant minerality and a pleasing grapefruit bitterness that helps balance that riper fruit expression and fuller texture.
The sunny nature of the vintage means you certainly can drink these wines young but I would suggest cellaring them until 2025 at a minimum and, for the Auslese, I would recommend cellaring them as long as your patience will hold. Even the humble Kabinetts and Erste Lagen deserve decent bottle age.
The Dry Wines
2020 Kreuznacher Kahlenberg Riesling Dry Donnhoff
£114 per 6 bottle case in bond
“The 2020 Kreuznacher Kahlenberg Riesling trocken is from a steep vineyard on loess-loam soils with gravel and quartzite. Pure and fresh yet also fruity on the nose, with dusty lemon and wet earth and stone aromas, this is a medium-bodied, round and piquant dry Riesling with juicy fruit, fine grip, fine tannins and grapefruit bitters on the finish. 12.5% alcohol. Tasted at the domain in July 2021. Drink: 2024-2050”
93/100. Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate
2020 Roxheimer Höllenpfad Riesling Trocken Donnhoff
£120 per 6 bottle case in bond
“From an open, south-facing vineyard on red sandstone, the 2020 Roxheimer Höllenpfad Riesling trocken is pure but ripe and intense on the nose that reveals ripe and stewed apple aromas with a fine phenolic spiciness and reductive richness. Juicy-piquant and salty-crystalline on the palate, this is an intense yet very elegant and still slightly astringent dry Riesling with fine tannic grip and good tension. 12.5% alcohol. Tasted at the domain in July 2021. Drink: 2025-2050”
94/100. Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate
2020 Hollenpfad im Muhlenberg Riesling Grosses Gewachs Donnhoff
£234 per 6 bottle case in bond
“From 40+-year-old vines on weathered sandstone soils, the 2020 Höllenpfad Im Mühlenberg GG opens with a clear, fresh and elegant bouquet of ripe, bright fruits. Full-bodied, intense and mineral on the palate, this is a pure fresh, straight and fruity yet also complex and sustainable Riesling with a long and tensioned, clear and polishing finish with lingering salinity. The 2020 has a lot of expression but is still youthful and will gain complexity, finesse and elegance as it ages in the bottle. 13% alcohol. Tasted at the domain in July and again six weeks later in Wiesbaden in August 2021. Drink: 2025-2050”
94/100. Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate
The Fruity Wines
2020 Kreuznacher Krötenpfuhl Riesling Kabinett Donnhoff
£84 per 6 bottle case in bond
“The 2020 Kreuznacher Krötenpfuhl Riesling Kabinett is bright and finely stony on the clear and elegant nose with its ripe, almost tropical fruit notes. Lush and round on the palate, this is a mouth-filling Kabinett with delicate acidity and a stimulatingly salty finish and very good length. A wine to keep. 9% alcohol. Tasted at the domain in July 2021. Drink: 2025-2050”
93/100. Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate
2020 Oberhäuser Brücke Riesling Auslese Gold Capsule Donnhoff
£156 per 6 half-bottle case in bond
£345 per 3 magnum case in bond
“The 2020 Oberhäuser Brücke Riesling Auslese is super clear, precise and coolish on the concentrated but highly refined and flinty/stony nose. Round and refined on the palate, this Auslese has a highly refined raisin tone intertwined with crunchy slate aromas. The wine comes across as a very complex and juicy but always highly finessed Auslese with eternal beauty. Almost zero botrytis, but the most perfect berries of the vintage made it into this adorable Auslese. 8% alcohol. Tasted at the domain in July 2021. Drink: 2021-2070”
97/100. Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate
