2017 Wolfer Goldgrube Kabinett 01 18
Market price
Buying options
Tasting notes
The designation “feinherb” is liable to mislead, because at little more than 10 grams of residual sugar, this bottling tastes dry – indeed, when I first encountered it I assumed it to be legally trocken, and evidently so did Vollenweider. “This lot had so much personality,” he explained, “that I couldn’t countenance blending it into my ‘Felsenfest.’” Indeed! There is clarity here – as well as, at just 11% alcohol, levity – that this vintage’s “Felsenfest” conspicuously lacks. While a hint of matchstick and some yeastiness needed to blow off, the nose delectably reveals lime, apple and white peach garlanded in chamomile and iris. The flowers and luscious fruit continue inner-mouth, complemented by a satiny texture. Subtle slate, smoke and salt serve for intrigue and saliva-inducement on a vibrantly sustained finish. I won’t be surprised if my numerical assessment of this wine’s ageworthiness proves overly conservative.
Critic scores
Average Score
Julia Harding MW, jancisrobinson.com
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
From the cooler, west-facing part of the vineyard, the 2017 Wolfer Goldgrube Riesling Kabinett Feinherb offers a pure, slatey and nicely reductive nose of intense, concentrated fruit and lovely woody notes (from the pips?). The wine is round, lush, very elegant and seriously structured on the palate. It was fermented in stainless steel, but it tastes a bit oaky due to the five hours of maceration, which also provides stunning tannin structure. The finish is juicy, long, intense, really attractive and elegant. Bottled in September with 12 grams of residual sugar (which you don't taste) and 10.5% alcohol, this wine was actually an accident (a vat that didn't ferment to dry), but it's a wine that Daniel Vollenweider fell in love with. However, he couldn't produce it again in 2018 due to the richness of the vintage, but he is looking forward to surfing this wave.
Herbal, lightly reductive, fumy nose suggesting spontaneous ferment but lots of lemony fruit too. All those flavours on the palate. Complex, mouth-watering and persistent. Delicious and GV . (JH)
A juicy and polished Kabinett with considerable mineral freshness, which expands with aeration. It develops floral and fresh herbal notes. The finish is super clean and vibrant. Drink or hold.