2002 Riesling G-Max Trocken

Keller's 2002 Riesling G-Max was served as ninth wine in this blind vertical tasting and followed the 2011 vintage. From the first decade, this is the greatest vintage next to the completely different but also fascinating 2003. It has clear, ripe, very sunny but dense fruit with a fine saline note and tannin structure already on the nose. Vital and fresh on the palate, this is a firm, very youthful and enormously salty G-Max with a spicy citrus note. In comparison, it is a rather intellectual Riesling with a taut, still young character. This G-Max is a reminder of how great the 2002 vintage was for German Riesling in general. Of all the vintages, this is perhaps the most exciting G-Max at the moment, even if the 2019, for example, may be the slightly greater Riesling over the long haul. Tasted at Steinheuer's Restaurant Zur Alten Post, Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, in January 2024.

Tasted blind. An intriguing bouquet thwarts almost any attempt to guess the age of this wine. On the one hand the waxy fragrance of fruit peel seems to suggest a certain maturity, on the other hand aromas of citrus blossom and fresh herbs counter with youthful expression. This initial sensory impression is refined on the palate with gentle nuances of lime and grapefruit entering a harmonious alliance with animating acidity and a sprinkling of chalky minerality to produce a soothing coolness of flavour. (MS)

Call me a philistine or an inverted snob, but I always seem to prefer the Morstein to the G-Max. It is not a question of better or worse, only one of personal preference. Even the colour of the G-Max shows more concentration with shades of bright gold. The nose is mineral to the extent of flinty, the palate lively with the zest of citrus fruit. Compact and tactile, this is indeed a monument, but almost too overwhelming in its substance and not quite as elegant as the Grosse Gewächse. (MS)