2007 Dönnhoff Norheimer Kirschheck Riesling Spätlese

Dönnhoff

Germany / Nahe / Dönnhoff

The oldest recorded vineyards of the Nahe are located in this part of Norheim. Kirsche means “cherry”, so the old name of the site suggests that wild cherries grew among the vineyards. The soils of the purely south-facing site are composed largely of grey slate, mixed with sandstone.

October, 2009

David Schildknecht

Wine Advocate

94 points

As usual with Donnhoff's renditions of this site, his 2007 Norheimer Kirschheck Riesling Spatlese displays a profusion of flowers (buddleia, rose lily, and cherry blossom) on the nose and cherry fruit and citrus on the palate that combine for an irresistible charm offensive. This silken, pure Riesling is suffused not only with wafting floral perfume, but with saline, savory, scallop-like mineral notes that add to its utterly lip-smacking, saliva-inducing brand of refreshment. Here's a great example of residually sweet Riesling possessing not one gram more than needed for maximum support of its aromas and fruit flavors, so that sweetness per se is the last thing you have on your mind as you reach for the next sip. While there is no extended track record yet at this address - and perhaps never has been for a Kirschheck with this sort of balance and sheer quality - experience with analogous Donnhoff wines suggest one could hold it for at least two decades. But don't miss it now, either!

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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.