2021 Dellchen Grosses Gewachs
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Tasting notes
Gorgeous aroma that is both bright citrus but also a riper, apricot-like fruit note. No lack of stony minerality either. Rich and packed with fruit even though it’s the acidity that takes the flavour to the back of the palate. A little honeyed on the finish even though it is basically dry. A little bit sweet-sour on the finish. Needs time to mesh. (JH)
Critic scores
Jancis Robinson MW
Julia Harding MW, jancisrobinson.com
More reviews and scores
Cool yellow fruits, spice and meadow flowers. Despite its aromatic reserve, it shows gorgeous balance and class. The refined fruit concentration of the Felsenberg is exchanged here for stony grip and texture; a touch of the untamed, of the wild. If stones could sing, this would be a glass-shattering aria of chiselled beauty and saline dreams. (PS)
From slate and volcanic soils, the 2021 Dellchen GG opens with a radiant, bright, pure and flinty bouquet with fascinating, refined and subtle, highly elegant yet delicate mirabelle and Amalfi lemon fruit intertwined with slatey notes. The bouquet is heavenly to me (and will be, believe me, for all true Riesling lovers). Mahler's 8th symphony, Fausten's Ascension—it's all here. Subtle intensity, a sense of wonder, perfectly interwoven, natural beauty. This nose already tells everything, and I couldn't go on to the next wine for more than half an hour. On the palate, this is a subtle and delicate, highly filigreed yet also incredibly intense, lush and slatey, long, stimulatingly saline and always uplifted Riesling with perfectly ripe and lush fruit with fine tannins. It is a juicy, ripe wine with crystalline acidity and endless salinity that carries everything. This Dellchen is intense yet never gets heavy, but it becomes even more intense. This is immaculate, highly emotional Riesling. It's not just the most beautiful Dellchen I have ever tasted but certainly also the most fascinating dry Riesling I have ever had. This is pure art. An adorable wine and with so much soul. It can't be expensive enough. When Helmut Dönnhoff was speaking about the feminine, charming and tender character of the cru, it is all here. 13% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted at the domaine in July 2022.