Dönnhoff Riesling Estate Qba 2008

Winemaker's Notes:

The Wine Doctor explains that the Dönnhoff family have been making wine in Nahe since 1750, and the latest member of the dynasty to run the estate is Helmut. Over the centuries the family estate grew to about 12 hectares, although in recent years Helmut has accelerated this trend so that the total area of vines now under his direction is more like 20 hectares. An inspection of his vineyard portfolio is rather like a rundown of the top sites around his location in Oberhausen. The vineyards here include a variety of soils, in the case of Dönnhoff his include decomposed grey slate and volcanic rocks such as porhpyry, and are planted predominantly with Riesling which accounts for 80% of the vines, the remainder being Burgundian varieties including Weissburgunder and Grauburgunder. Dönnhoff's holdings include part of the 8.5 hectare Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle, a site rich in the aforementioned slate and volcanic rock, melaphyr as well as porphyry, an igneous melange which is perhaps responsible for some of his most exalted wines which seem to have the power to send some writers into raptures. Perhaps equally famous is the Oberhäuser Brücke vineyard, again dominated by grey slate; this site is owned in its entirety by Dönnhoff, and is notable as the source of firm, mineral, masculine wines, and of course his fabulous, cult-status eiswein. The standard Riesling QbA is an off-dry wine which has an elevated level of acidity and an intense, lemon-infused palate.