2015 Rottgen
Market price
Buying options
Tasting notes
Smoky and pungent aromatic notes of toasted grain, grapefruit peel, and anise, along with saline, alkaline sea breeze, are vaguely backed by tropical intimations of papaya and mango. The polished, glycerol-rich palate preserves this complex array of allusions and introduces a piquancy of fruit pits and pits that goes beyond their typical expression in Rieslings from the Lower Mosel terraces and into a glowing intensity of bitter almond that is palate-staining in its persistence. At the same time, prominently smoky and stony notes serve for site typicity. The overall impression, tropical fruits notwithstanding, is austere as well as impressively forceful. (Note that this wine’s being a Grosses Gewächs is signified, for reasons noted in my introduction, by a minuscule rendering of the initials “GG.")
Critic scores
Jancis Robinson MW
Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
The 2015 Riesling Röttgen 'VDP Grosse Lage' has the clear, deep, ripe, elegant and complex nose of a great wine. Crushed stone flavors along with almond cookie flavors and a thousand more flavors lead to a dense, powerful and well structured palate of great complexity and persistency. This Winninger Röttgen combines richness, power and structure with finesse, transparency and elegance. The finish is stimulatingly salty and aromatic. This is a great dry and pretty powerful Riesling that will shine in 5-10 or more years.
Subtle nuances of honey and lanolin reflect the ripeness of the fruit, the influence of spontaneous yeasts has been channelled into an exquisite herbal fragrance, a hint of violets adding a wonderful flowery touch. On the palate the Röttgen demonstrates fruit picked at the point of perfection with an excellent balance between sweet, juicy and mineral attributes. Full body, great substance and exhilarating freshness make the Röttgen one of the Greats of a great vintage. (MS)