September 19, 2022 | News | Issue Highlights
2021 marks a dive into glorious vintages of the past, with higher levels of acidity. Stefan Steinmetz produced a beautiful just off-dry Riesling from this lesser-known but great site.
2021 was marked by rain and cooler weather … and yet delivered some absolutely stunning wines which bear more than a resemblance with great vintages from the 1990s and the 1980s.
One of the great dry-tasting Riesling of the vintage came from Weingut Günther Steinmetz.
Weingut Günther Steinmetz is not one born with a silver spoon in the mouth, it is one of these many honest Estates which, generation after generation, took on some small parcels here and inherited some others. Besides parcels in the Brauneberger Juffer, most parcels were in less glamorous (but still very good) sites around Brauneberg.
In comes Stefan Steinmetz. He has an eye for great but lesser-known terroir. Read for yourself: He single-handedly brought the forgotten Wintricher Geierslay back on the map. He took on a steep-hill vineyard (still planted with 90-year-old vines) in the Piesporter Treppchen, which had the bad fortune of being integrated into the mostly flat and non-saying part of the vineyard in the course of the 1971 vineyard reform. Over the years, he added also parcels in more famous vineyards such as the Wintricher Ohligsberg, the Piesporter Goldtröpfchen, the Dhroner Hofberg, and the Neumagener Rosengärtchen, always in prime sectors and mostly still planted with very old vines. Many more would follow.
The Estate’s style also evolved over the years. Where it was producing some powerful beasts back in the 2000s, Stefan Steinmetz has engaged into a path of developing more focused and lighter wines over the years and thereby of revealing more the individual characteristics of each of his vineyards.
The 2021 vintage suited Stefan like a glove. His collection proves a little jewel of elegance and finesse and this in all directions as subscribers will no doubt have noticed in our review of the Estate’s 2021 collection in the Mosel Fine Wines Issue No 63 (August 2022).
In 2021, Stefan Steinmetz added another parcel in the Piesporter Treppchen sector situated just next to the Wintricher Ohligsberg: “I tend already one parcel in this steep west-north-west facing sector and this wine has always proved to make remarkably fine wines [note from the authors: we fully agree!]. Last year, I was offered to take up another parcel a bit further upriver which has still in impeccable condition and I simply couldn’t say no!”
This now addition yielded a just off-dry wine in 2021: “I harvested the grapes for this wine bang in the middle of the Riesling harvest. The wine was then fermented slowly, over 8-9 months, in stainless steel and bottled just before this Summer.”
The result is simply breathtaking: The wine proves on the one side deep and intense and yet at the same time as light as a feather and packed with finesse.
Should this particular wine not be available in your neck of the world, other dry or off-dry 2021 wines from this fine Estate may be available. As we already mentioned, its portfolio is simply stunning in 2021!
Happy hunting!
The 2021 collection of Günther Steinmetz
was reviewed in the Mosel Fine Wines Issue No 63 (August 2022).
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2021er
Günther Steinmetz
Piesporter Treppchen Riesling am Fels
15 22
95
The 2021er Piesporter Treppchen Riesling “am Fels” is a just off-dry wine (with 10 g/l of residual sugar) made from fruit picked on very old vines situated in the west-facing “am Berg” sector of the vineyard adjacent to the Wintricher Ohligsberg. The wine offers a superb nose made of pear, bitter lemon, aniseed herbs, ginger, yeasty elements, and smoke. It proves superbly silky and smooth on the palate where the acidity is beautifully integrated and adds depth to the experience. The finish is firm, multi-layered, and hugely impressive. This is a stunning off-dry wine! 2026-2041
© Text by Mosel Fine Wines "The Independent Review of Mosel Riesling ... and beyond!"
Disclaimer: Mosel Fine Wines is an independent publication and has no commercial relationship with any Estate, association or organization featured in this article.
