2015 Reichsrat von Buhl Deidesheimer Herrgottsacker Riesling, Pfalz, Germany

Herrgottsacker is an Erste Lage (First Growth) vineyard, i.e. a top notch, classified vineyard, that sits between Forst and Deidesheim. It is one of the southern Mittelhaardt’s larger vineyards, though Von Buhl’s parcel is sited on the belly of the original Herrgottsacker before the vineyard was extended. The parcel faces southeast and southwest with a gentle slope. The soils here are white and yellow sandstone with limestone deposits. At Erste Lage level and above, Von Buhl’s Rieslings are all fermented in 2,400-litre dopplestücks or large casks (both Austrian and Franconian) and raised on full lees with zero or minimal sulphur for much of the ageing. The 2015 Herrgottsacker is a brilliant, mouth-filling young Riesling, with waves of yellow fruit notes, a kiss of honey, some grip and a smoky, savoury edge. Outstanding.

‘Like its Paradiesgarten counterpart, this bottling from the ‘original’ core Herrgottsacker vineyard was raised entirely in cask and bottled along with the Grosse Gewächse of its vintage, but then not released for eight or nine further months. The casks here were evidently newer, as the nose displays resinous notes from oak, and the wood is probably also one reason – though the deeper-soiled, lower elevation site is surely another – why there is less bright primary juiciness here and a bit of textural stiffness vis-à-vis that Paradiesgarten. But this bottling is amazingly dense and pithily concentrated, featuring pit-inflected white peach, dried apple and hazelnut, and a slippery abundance of glycerol helps ward off what might otherwise be an impression of austerity. An elusive underlying earthiness helps ground the finish. Here is a wine to watch, in particular to see whether the oak integrates more fully, though I suspect that if it does, this will be more by way of overtly woody aromas and flavours retreating than by refinement of texture or enhanced juiciness.’