2018 Weingut Keller Riesling Trocken Von der Fels, Rheinhessen

The 2018 von der Fels Riesling Trocken is magnificent this year and is probably the very finest bargain in the universe of dry Rieslings in all of Germany in this vintage! The wine offers up a beautifully pure and vibrant bouquet of pink grapefruit, tart orange, chalky minerality, dried flowers, citrus peel, a dollop of wild yeasts and a gently smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, precise and impressive tensile for the vintage, with a great core, superb elegance and focus, outstanding backend mineral drive and a very long, very pure and complex finish. Great juice. 2023-2060+. 

Vines average age 30 years. As for all the Rieslings, some fermented in big old wood (1,200–2,400 litres), some in tank. A little deeper in colour than the Riesling trocken. Much richer and more complex on the nose, too. Spice and richness that I have not generally found in this wine – it shows the addition of some of the declassified Grosses Gewächs fruit. Those wild herbal notes of spontaneous fermentation but that does not detract from the mountain-fresh citrus of just-ripe Riesling. Has the complexity of the GGs but not quite the depth on the mid palate. As it opens, that spiciness turns into a more mineral quality, but complex minerality not the dusty stony quality of, say, young Chablis. There is also a greater richness in the mouth compared with the 2017 Von der Fels, perhaps a little more power and a little less finesse. Though Keller points out that some components finished fermenting just a few weeks ago and that this finesse will come. This vintage this wine seems closer to the GG rather than to the Riesling trocken, as it has seemed in the past. Impressive persistence. This should be a bargain this year.