2019 Dönnhoff Kreuznacher Krötenpfuhl Riesling Kabinett

Dönnhoff

Germany / Nahe / Dönnhoff

The loess loam soil of the Krötenpfuhl vineyard is notable for its high share of gravelly quarzite. Between the stony ground and its southern aspect, this neighbour to the Kahlenberg is known for warm soils and early flowering of the vines year after year. The loess loam substrate retains water well, ensuring the vines have sufficient moisture even in drought years. Vines growing in this type of pebbly soil tend to produce small berries with delicate aromas, a lively acidity and long hangtime.
The Kabinett is an elegant off-dry Riesling, artfully balancing distinctive herbal spice notes with a vivacious clarion acidity. - Cornelius Dönnhoff

September, 2020

Stuart Pigott

jamessuckling.com

93 points.

Prototypical Kabinett with a light body, effusive red apples, then a long, mineral finish. Did somebody say this was an off-dry wine? Yes, but the balance makes it extremely food-friendly. From organically grown grapes with Fair'n Green certification. Drink now. Screw cap.

April, 2020

Stephan Reinhardt

Wine Advocate

90-91 points.

From very pebbly loess soils, the 2019 Riesling Kabinett Kreuznacher Krötenpfuhl is bright and sulfured on the precise, elegant and refined nose. Round and elegant on the refined palate, this is a very accessible Kabinett with flesh and texture and almost a Spätlese character. Pleasantly salty on the intense and persistent finish. Tasted as a sample in Bremen, April 2020.

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About Dönnhoff

Helmut Dönnhoff and son Cornelius make the best wines in the Nahe region and some of the finest anywhere in the world. We can't possibly overstate how much we cherish and revere these wines. They are sheer perfection in their elegantly defined structure and flawless harmony. The epitome of their meticulous winemaking is the Eiswein. Dönnhoff wines have such power and complexity that their signature weightlessness seems nigh on miraculous. One taste and you sense the magic. These wines are on a par with the best of Germany in a very unique way: the sweet wines rival those of Prüm, Loosen and Egon Müller and the dry wines are mentioned in the same breath as luminaries such as Wittmann and Weil. Very few - if any - have this degree of versatility...

About

Cornelius Dönnhoff bears with him the promise and burden of great expectations. Dönnhoff’'s world-renowned Rieslings were first carried into the international limelight by his father, but now it is the son assuming an increasing share of the responsibility for the estate in the small town of Oberhausen on the Nahe (population 400). “No one knows the Nahe, but everyone knows Dönnhoff,” they say in the USA. And with the recent conclusion of his seventh vintage, this young, university-trained viticulturalist has every reason to smile. He won three consecutive Feinschmecker Cups for his dry Riesling collection, and in 2012 the simultaneous distinction of both “Estate of the Year” and “Best White Wine Collection” from the renowned Eichelmann wine guide. In 2014 Stuart Pigott named him Winemaker of the Year in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Cornelius acquired his initial winemaking experience at his parents' estate, followed by an apprenticeship at the Dr. Heger wine estate in Ihringen. University studies in viticultural techniques in Bad Kreuznach came next, followed by time abroad in New Zealand and Australia. In 2007 he assumed the role of cellarmaster at Dönnhoff and currently runs the estate together with his father.