GG Riesling & You

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Schloss Lieser Riesling Niederburg Helden GG 2019

Rated 95 Points by the Wine Advocate

Finding the best German wines is easy. Just remember the words "Verband Deutscher Prädikatsweingüter."

Ok - maybe just remember the term VDP!

VDP is an invitation-only organization of some of Germany's best wineries who have set for themselves strict harvesting and production rules, to create a pyramid of increasing quality wines. While this applies to different varietals, most VDPs are Rieslings. At the top of this pyramid are Grosse Lage wines which, like Burgundy's Premier & Grand Crus, are all about the best vineyard sites. To find these look for "VDP Grosse Lage", their eagle logo on the foil top and the vineyard name on the label.

Within these top wines are some very special ones with a modest "GG" on the label. To qualify as Grosses Gewachs, or GG, the wines must be hand-harvested at optimal ripeness and then vinified into dry wines. These are often the most stunning of German rieslings.

One beautiful example of this is the Schloss Lieser 2019 Niederberg Helden Riesling GG by winemaker Thomas Haag. Niederberg Helden is a famous blue slate vineyard in Mosel. It combines a broad hilltop with a steep, southwest facing hillside above the Mosel River. The wine offers a spectacular power and complexity in a razor-sharp, almost weightless frame of minerality. It is a truly dazzling wine.

Rated 95 Points by the Wine Advocate - "The Lieser 2019 Niederberg Helden Riesling GG is clear and intense on the remarkably fine, flinty and herbal nose. Full-bodied, lush and intense, with fine crystalline acidity and slate astringency, this is an elegant, round, finessed and mouth-filling Helden. It is as fine and elegant as rarely seen before and is carried by lingering salinity and even hidden tannins. It's almost as part was vinified in oak, which would be a more than tolerable stylistic change since it would be for the better. Tasted at the domain in September 2020."

Rated 93 Points by the Wine Spectator - "Aromas and flavors of peach, floral, slate and brown spices are matched to a supple texture and juicy acidity. These components make for an expressive, harmonious white, with terrific balance and length. Drink now through 2033. 600 cases made, 100 cases imported."

Cheers!

Tim Brew

tim@varmax.com