Nahe Riesling: 33 top examples from this interesting German wine region
The Nahe wine region in Germany is on a bit of a roll. There are just over 4000 hectares of vines here, with Riesling the main grape, but only accounting for a quarter of the vineyard area, so there’s a bit of a varietal spread. But it is Riesling that really hits the high notes. Soils in Nahe are quite diverse.
Here I tried 33 Rieslings from some of the top producers – members of the exclusive VDP group. These are all wines from top sites, made in a dry style, and designated as Grosses Gewächs (GGs). Lots of lovely wines.
Kruger-Rumpf Münster-Sarmsheim Dautenpflänzer Riesling GG 2019 Nahe, Germany
Lovely texture here: this is fine and expressive with crisp citrus fruit and grainy acid structure. Very pure and expressive. 93/100
Kruger-Rumpf Münster-SarmsheimIm Pitterberg Riesling GG 2019 Nahe, Germany
Concentrated, intense, detailed and vivid. Lovely precision here to the fruit with a slight peppery edge. This is really good. 95/100
Schlossgut Diel Dorsheim Pittermännchen Riesling GG 2019 Nahe, Germany
Concentrated, fine and detailed. Has good weight to the pure citrus fruit with a fine spicy flourish and a well integrated acid line. Really expressive and satisfying with lovely fruit weight. 94/100
Joh. Bapt. Schäfer Dorsheim Pittermännchen Riesling GG 2019 Nahe, Germany
Great precision and depth here with a fine line of linear citrus fruit, with a spicy twist on the end of the palate. Such a beautifully expressive wine showing purity and balance. 94/100
Schlossgut Diel Dorsheim Goldloch Riesling GG 2019 Nahe, Germany
Concentrated, intense and limey with lovely acidity and precise fruit. This has amazing weight and depth to it. So expressive. 95/100
Joh. Bapt. Schäfer Dorsheim Goldloch Riesling GG 2019 Nahe, Germany
Linear, precise and quite beautiful showing crystalline lemon fruit. Great purity and length: this has high acidity but it integrates beautifully. 94/100
Schlossgut Diel Dorsheim Burgberg Riesling GG 2018 Nahe, Germany
Fruity, bright and delicious with nice citrus and pear notes, as well as a long, clean finish. The emphasis here is very much on the appealing fruit. 93/100
Kruger-Rumpf Dorsheim Burgberg Riesling GG 2019 Nahe, Germany
Powerful, precise and concentrated, this is a really vivid, layered Riesling showing great potential. It has a lovely detailed mouthfeel with a hint of pepper and some crystalline citrus notes. 95/100
H. Dönnhoff Roxheim Höllenpfad Im Mühlenberg Riesling GG 2019 Nahe, Germany
Beautifully complex, detailed nose of spicy citrus fruit. The palate has a twist of apricot alongside the lemony fruit, with white grapefruit and a lovely spicy, tapering finish. Has precision but also some generosity. 95/100
H. Dönnhoff Bad Kreuznach Krötenpfuhl Riesling GG 2019 Nahe, Germany
Vivid limey nose with some fine spicy notes. The palate is concentrated and refined with a strong mineral core and great precision. This is remarkable: so many layers of flavour here. Pure, intense and refined. 96/100
Dr. Crusius Traisen Bastei Riesling GG 2019 Nahe, Germany
Crystalline and bright with high acidity. Linear and focused with pure lime and lemon fruit and a long acid line. 93/100
Gut Hermannsberg Traisen Bastei Riesling GG 2018 Nahe, Germany
Very fresh and linear with great concentration. Shows a fine spiciness on the palate. Well integrated minerality with some nice ripe pear and melon notes as well as the crisp lemon fruit. 94/100
Dr. Crusius Traisen Steinberg Riesling GG 2019 Nahe, Germany
Fantastic precision and focus here with powerful citrus notes, and some lovely spicy flourishes. Great acidity providing a supporting role. Almost perfect balance. 95/100
Dr. Crusius Traisen Mühlberg “Im Rotenfels” Riesling GG 2019 Nahe, Germany
Powerful, detailed and fresh with nice citrus intensity. Very fine with a bit of apricot as well as concentrated lemony fruit. Has a mass of juicy, detailed fruit character together with some structure. 94/100
H. Dönnhoff Norheim Dellchen Riesling GG 2019 Nahe, Germany
Fresh, vital and beautifully balanced. The high acidity integrates well, and there’s a wide spectrum of citrus fruit and apricot and pear. Has a touch of mid-palate richness, but it’s treble all the way apart from this. 94/100
Gut Hermannsberg Altenbamberg Rotenberg Riesling GG 2019 Nahe, Germany
Quite powerful and limey with nice intensity to the focused, concentrated fruit. This has amazing acidity that integrates almost perfectly. There’s also a touch of melon and pineapple richness in the background. 95/100
Gut Hermannsberg Niederhausen Steinberg Riesling GG 2019 Nahe, Germany
Amazing intensity here: concentrated, fine limey fruit with scintillating acidity. Fine and expressive with great depth of flavour and real purity. 95/100
H. Dönnhoff Niederhausen Hermannshöhle Riesling GG 2019 Nahe, Germany
There’s a lovely fruity side to this wine, with refined, fine lime and apricot notes, but also lovely acidity. Concentrated flavours with minerals, spice and citrus fruit, showing great precision and purity. 95/100
Gut Hermannsberg Niederhausen Hermannsberg Riesling GG 2018 Nahe, Germany
This is quite striking: it’s very fruity and rounded with a nice mandarin edge to the lemony fruit. Lots of fruit here. A pleasant but not profound Riesling. 91/100
H. Dönnhoff Oberhausen Brücke Riesling GG 2019 Nahe, Germany
Fresh, delicate, refined and pure, this starts out with a kick of lime, and then it grows on the palate with minerals and spices, finishing with some fine herbs. Quite lovely. 93/100
Dr. Crusius Schloßböckelheim Kupfergrube Riesling GG 2019 Nahe, Germany
Powerful with apple and lime notes, and a nice line of acidity. Good concentration. Quite juicy and very fruity. 92/100
Schäfer-Fröhlich Schloßböckelheim Kupfergrube Riesling GG 2019 Nahe, Germany
Stony and lemony on the nose. Quite powerful and linear with a lovely acid line. Limey and vivid. 91/100
Dr. Crusius Schloßböckelheim Felsenberg Riesling GG 2019 Nahe, Germany
This is really appealing: rounded with sweet mandarin and lemon fruit, and a nice softness to the fruit. Quite delicate and fine. 91/100
H. Dönnhoff Schloßböckelheim Felsenberg Riesling GG 2019 Nahe, Germany
Bright, pure and nicely intense. Quite refined with a nice spicy framing to the sweet citrus fruit. Shows elegance and delicacy rather than power and concentration. Lovely balance. 93/100
Gut Hermannsberg Schloßböckelheim Felsenberg Riesling GG 2019 Nahe, Germany
Rounded and really quite exotic, with melon, pineapple and citrus fruit, as well as good acidity. Nice balance here, finishing finely spiced and long. 93/100
Schäfer-Fröhlich Schloßböckelheim Felsenberg Riesling GG 2019 Nahe, Germany
Juicy and fine with some crystalline citrus fruits. Has nice weight and focus: a gentle, quite delicate wine, but showing good complexity. 93/100
Schäfer-Fröhlich Bockenau Felseneck Riesling GG 2019 Nahe, Germany
Zesty, intense and powerful with bold lime and lemon fruit. Linear and expressive with a sense of precision and purpose, finishing all spicy with an acid flourish. 94/100
Schäfer-Fröhlich Bockenau Stromberg Riesling GG 2019 Nahe, Germany
Beautiful focus and delicacy here: mandarin and lime with a nice openness, keen acidity and a hint of cabbage and spice on the finish. Very fine. 94/100
Emrich-Schönleber Monzingen Frühlingsplätzchen Riesling GG 2019 Nahe, Germany
Powerful lime oil nose leads to a concentrated palate with some herbal hints, juiciness and a tapered acidic finish. Very appealing. 92/100
Schäfer-Fröhlich Monzingen Frühlingsplätzchen Riesling GG 2019 Nahe, Germany
Powerful and crystalline, with great acidity and power. A very precise Riesling with good concentration of flavour: all lime and mandarin, with a bit of pineapple, too. So lovely. 94/100
Emrich-Schönleber Monzingen Halenberg Riesling GG 2019 Nahe, Germany
Such lovely acidity here, giving a lovely crystalline feel to the ripe, fruit-driven palate, with melon, peach and apricot as well as lemony brightness. 93/100
Schäfer-Fröhlich Monzingen Halenberg Riesling GG 2019 Nahe, Germany
Dense and complex with a lovely linear palate of lemons, mandarins and spice. Has good concentration and acidity. Such finesse to this, as well as power. 94/100
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