2015 Dönnhoff Schlossbockelheimer Felsenberg Riesling Kabinett Grosses Gewachs
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Tasting notes
Lavender and huckleberry, crushed stone and peach kernel combine for a penetrating nose, and the palate impression, backed by 13% alcohol, is correspondingly intense, almost to the point of severity. The combination of fullness and palpably high extract with slightly lower acidity than in several other dry Dönnhoff 2015s generates a marginally less bright or intricate impression. But there is still welcome fresh lime juiciness; and glowing piquancy of peach kernel and juniper berry, allied with pungency of lavender and incisive impingements of fresh ginger, make for a formidably gripping, energetically invigorating finish.
Critic scores
William Kelley (Robert Parker)
Neal Martin (Vinous)
More reviews and scores
The 2015 (Schlossböckelheimer) Felsenberg Riesling GG 'Felsentürmchen' is from the steep, south-facing cru with volcanic soils. It opens very pure and stony, with deep, flinty flavors and a lemon perfume sprayed over crushed stones. On the palate, this is a generous, intense and finesse-full Riesling with great intensity and lingering salinity. The wine seems round, but it has less than four grams of residual sugar. In fact, I have rarely tasted a Felsentürmchen that is so generous and Burgundian as this. In terms of texture, complexity and its compact nature, it is a bit like a Pinot Noir from Volnay. A great dry Riesling for sure, and its soul is clearly stony, flinty and more challenging than the smooth Dellchen, for example. The Felsenberg needs its time to show all its talents.
Differences between the sublime Grosse Gewächse of this estate may be marginal, but somehow my sense of smell seems to discover a slightly more floral fragrance in the Felsentürmchen. It reminds me of the period of innocence before my misspent youth, when I took pleasure in the fragrance of buttercups and the fresh sap of the silver birch. Lovers of pure minerality and ripe orchard fruit need not despair – they are there too. (MS)