Königsbacher Ölberg-Hart Riesling Grosses Gewächs 2023

A serious Riesling that makes its demands known quietly. This vintage's nose is fruitier than in previous years, while remaining fine and understated: peach blossom, yellow plum, apple, lemon and mirabelle, alongside smoke, a touch of graphite and chalk. Platinum in the glass.

The Hart is the name given to the heart of Königsbach's Ölberg vineyard, around the Ölberg wayside chapel; the parcel was classified as VDP.Grosse Lage in 2013. The soil is defined by tertiary limestone marl, known as Terra fusca, mixed in the topsoil with variegated sandstone gravel. The A. Christmann estate in Gimmeldingen dates back to 1798 and is run by Steffen and Sophie Christmann, farmed biodynamically since 2003 and certified respekt-BIODYN as well as EU organic.

Pure Riesling. Up to this vintage, the auction wine came solely from the oldest part of the site; the younger vines have since reached a good age, so the Grosses Gewächs now comes from the entire site. The must spent a few hours on the skins, fermented spontaneously and fairly warm, and matured in a large oval cask. 12.0% vol., dry.

Here the wine sheds some of its restraint: silky texture, mirabelle and apricot, met by a dark, stony, slightly phenolic component. Notable is the way the texture evolves from cream to a fine, sandy grain — serious, but never severe.

Christmann farms 17 hectares and produces exclusively single-vineyard wines from Riesling and Pinot, with Riesling accounting for 70 percent of the area. Steffen Christmann has been president of the VDP since 2007, and his daughter Sophie joined the estate in 2018.