2017 Donnhoff Kreuznacher Kahlenberg Dry

The 2017 Kahlenberg Trocken comes in at 12.5 percent alcohol and three grams per liter of residual sugar in this vintage and is a beautifully balanced, elegant example of the vintage that will age long and gracefully. As Helmut Dönnhoff notes, “the Kahlenberg is a warmer vineyard and we are now picking it a bit earlier to get this raciness.” The bouquet wafts from the glass in nascently complex blend of blood orange, grapefruit, wild yeasts, complex minerality, citrus peel and a gently smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is crisp, fullish and complex, with a fine core, excellent, seamless balance, ripe acids and superb focus and grip on the long and vibrant finish. This will need at least a couple of years in the cellar to start to blossom from behind its suave structural elements, but will drink well from that point on for several decades. Drink 2020-2050. 91+ points

When we use the old cliché of mountain-stream freshness, it’s an inadequate attempt to describe purity and cool breeze. The nose of the Kahlenberg lets you imagine this outdoor experience, but adds a sprinkling of salt, a touch of lime and invigorating acidity in terms of real flavour. As fresh as a daisy. 16.5 points