`This will most likely also end up as an auction bottling, and I am very pleased that Herr Dönnhoff kept the two Brücke auslesen separate, as they are both compelling in their own right. The number 2 Brücke is even deeper and purer than the first example, as the wine offers up a brilliant mélange of pear, cherries, banana, lilacs and a mineral bath of immense proportion. On the palate the wine is simply an essence of wine, with its medium-full format both weightless and bottomless. The focus and balance here are flawless, the acids bright and tensile, and the finish and endless cascade of minerality. Rather an impressive glass of wine. (Drink between 2012-2040) 98 point` John Gilman
Riesling Ausele Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Goldkapsel Auktion #19 Fritz Haag
The estate at Brauneberg, once called Dusemond, is first documented in 1605. Wilhelm Haag took over in 1957 and was named Gault&Millau`s first winemaker of the year, in 1994. His son Oliver and daughter-in-law Jessica run it today. All Riesling, hand-picked in several passes on slopes of up to 80% over Devonian slate. Three decades old.
Maximin Grünhaus is a monopole in the Ruwer valley, owned by the von Schubert family since 1882 and named for the Benedictine abbey of St Maximin. Abtsberg is the estate`s finest slope, planted to Riesling on slate.
Riesling Auslese Berncasteler Doctor Dr. H. Thanisch
The Thanisch name first appears in Bernkastel`s records in 1636, and the family has owned parcels of this famous vineyard for over 200 years. Legend says wine from here cured Elector Boemund of Trier in 1360. The estate split in 1988 into two branches, and the label here doesn`t say which. A south-south-west slope with a 65% gradient.
Riesling Auslese Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Goldkapsel #12 Fritz Haag
An Auslese picked by hand from botrytised bunches on the Mosel`s Devonian slate, at the estate Wilhelm Haag has made famous since taking over in 1957. Oliver and Jessica Haag now run its 17 to 19 hectares of pure Riesling, with some of the Mosel`s steepest slopes.
Riesling Auslese Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Lange Goldkapsel Auktion #5 Fritz Haag
The long gold capsule marks the estate`s very finest lot, from slopes of up to 80% on Devonian slate at Brauneberg. Documented since 1605, run by Wilhelm Haag from 1957 and since 2005 by his son Oliver and daughter-in-law Jessica.
The Prüm family has lived in Wehlen since the 12th century. Johann Josef Prüm founded this estate in 1911 after an inheritance split, and Manfred Prüm has led it since 1969, with his daughter Katharina since 2003. About five hectares sit on a 70%-steep south-south-west slope of weathered grey slate. The sundial built there in 1842 appears on every label.
Johannes Selbach had run the family estate for three years when this was made, after his father Hans, who set it up in 1964 with two hectares, handed it over in 1993. Today`s 24 hectares of blue Devonian slate include old parcels on original rootstock.
Willi Schaefer is a small family estate at Graach, with about four hectares on Mosel slate. Domprobst is among Graach`s best sites. Riesling, over two decades old.
`Helmut Dönnhoff noted that the 2017 Brücke Goldkapsel Auslese includes about thirty percent botrytized grapes, with the rest of the bunches comprised of perfectly golden berries. The wine has a must weight of one hundred and ten Oechsle and 10.8 grams per liter of acidity this year. The youthful nose is flat out beautiful, offering up scents of pear, white cherries, a touch of passion fruit, honeycomb, fruit blossoms and a nice touch of salty minerality. On the palate the wine is fullish, pure and vibrant, with a lovely core of fruit, juicy complexity and fine focus and grip on the long, balanced and nicely salty finish. A superb bottle in the making. (Drink between 2023-2085)` 95+ points. John Gilman.
`This will most likely also end up as an auction bottling, and I am very pleased that Herr Dönnhoff kept the two Brücke auslesen separate, as they are both compelling in their own right. The number 2 Brücke is even deeper and purer than the first example, as the wine offers up a brilliant mélange of pear, cherries, banana, lilacs and a mineral bath of immense proportion. On the palate the wine is simply an essence of wine, with its medium-full format both weightless and bottomless. The focus and balance here are flawless, the acids bright and tensile, and the finish and endless cascade of minerality. Rather an impressive glass of wine. (Drink between 2012-2040) 98 point` John Gilman
`Like the Felsenberg Auslese, the Brücke regular Auslese in 2007 (there will be a Goldkapsel as well from this vineyard this year) is so gently glazed by botrytis that it offers up remarkably purity and precision on both the nose and palate. The bouquet is a glorious blend of apple, peach, honeycomb, petrol, slate and sweet grapefruit. On the palate the wine is fullish, pure and racy, with a rock solid core of fruit, with beautiful soil inflection, great length and grip, bright acids and a very, very long, focused and impressively delicate and ethereal finish. The Brücke vineyard is usually the most prone to vigorous botrytis amongst the Dönnhoff roster, and consequently this very gentle shriveled personality is quite novel and captivating. A beautiful wine in the making that should age for a very long time. (Drink between 2016-2050)` 95 points, John Gilman
`.For several decades, Helmut Dönnhoff has been of the opinion that an Auslese is a wine that needs botrytis and every example here has been a botrytized wine, at least to some degree. So, it is a great rarity to find not one, but two completely clean Auslesen in the family’s cellars this year made from golden and shriveled berries and no noble rot. The 2018 Brücke Auslese is a beautiful wine in the making, offering up a lovely aromatic constellation of pear, white cherries, honeycomb, bee pollen, apple blossoms and a lovely foundation of salty, slate minerality. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and nascently complex, with a lovely core, great focus and grip, snappy acids and a very long, dancing and still quite youthful finish. (Drink between 2030-2090)` 95 points, John Gilman.
The 2001 Oberhäuser Brücke Auslese is a beautiful wine, with a lovely glaze of botrytis adding an exotic shading to both the nose and palate. The bouquet offers up a stunning potpourri of apple pie, pineapple, nutmeg, acacia blossom, and a lovely underpinning of minerality. On the palate the wine is fullish, racy and brilliantly focused, with a tensile girdle of acidity, outstanding mid-palate depth, and a very long, transparent and snappy finish. The combination here on both the nose and palate of esthery, perfumed spice and floral tones and absolutely gorgeous fruit is simply gorgeous, and while the wine is still clearly on its way up, it is utterly irresistible. (375 ml.) (Drink between 2006-2025) 96 points. John Gilman
Auction lot #14 from a Wehlen family that has worked these slopes since the 12th century. Johann Josef Prüm founded the estate in 1911, and the sundial built in the vineyard in 1842 still marks every label. Spontaneous fermentation, extended lees ageing in old oak.
Riesling Spatlese Berncasteler Doctor Dr. H. Thanisch
In 1882 Dr Hugo Thanisch auctioned about 6,000 square metres of this three-hectare vineyard for over 100,000 gold marks, an extraordinary price then. It is often called Germany`s most expensive vineyard. The family`s 300-year-old cellar lies 30 metres beneath the hill. The 1988 estate split means the label doesn`t say which Thanisch branch made this.
