Description
The Höllberg is always the first to be picked, from a fairly vigorous deeper soiled parcel whose tendency is to quicker rather than slower ripeness. Team Wagner Stempel has consistently brought out the best of the site by taming the ripeness to yield a wine whose charms can be tremendous when carefully balanced with the decomposed volcanic subsoil. Typically, the archetypal personality here is more of broader shoulders, and well poised fleshiness leading the show, with a persistent shimmer of volcanic minerality less in the fore. However, the 2021 is particularly precise and dynamic, which the first whiff stunned me to attention. There is a kiss of yellow fruits aromatically, but in a very classy, subtle, and restrained manner. In the mouth, it has a sense of precision and tension that brings out salivary mineral salts in a way that I have rarely, if ever, encountered here. Its sense of filigrée, dancing precision and overall harmony is pure class, probably the finest Höllberg i’ve ever tasted……I immediately asked about large format bottlings, as this stuff will age impeccably, and is plain outstanding……a little * awarded here….get this!!!
“Just a hint of funk (from reduction), but this is a deep and complex mineral monument that has been built to last. The pineapple and papaya only comes out on the palate, which is enormously deep and very silky with a lot of spicy notes. Then a huge wave of minerals crashes over you, yet the final impression is light and bright. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold.” 98 Stuart Piggott for the 2019, NOT THE 2021 OFFERED HERE
“Buddleia perfume, musk, sweat and quarry-like dusty stone intriguingly greet the nose. A shimmering sense of interaction between crystalline stoniness and peachy fruit, brightly shot through with fresh lime and inner-mouth florality, makes for an animatingly energetic and brightly refreshing performance that shows its nine grams of acidity in the most positive possible way. Yet for all of that brightness – which was made possible on this site by picking two weeks ahead of the Heerkretz and Eichelberg – the wine caresses with its silken texture. Piquancy of peach kernel, sizzling citrus zest and mouthwatering salinity of sea water enhance the invigoration and saliva-inducement of a bell-clear, superbly sustained finish that is in no way weighed down by the wine’s 13 percent alcohol.” 94 David Schildknecht for the 2015, NOT THE 2021 OFFERED HERE.