Piesporter Goldtröpfchen

15 August 2017

Located on a sharp bend at the Mosel river, Piesport has been producing wine since Roman times and in 1985 a 4th century Roman wine press was discovered here. Consisting of 7 basins, it could handle grapes from 60 hectares, making it the largest found north of the Alps.

Despite having one of Germany's most legendary vineyards, Goldtröpfchen (gold droplet), the Piesporter wines has a reputation for either being world class or sweet indifferent crap.

The reason for the latter is that some Piesporters are chaptalized with sugar added to the juice before fermentation to increase the alcohol level. These cheap wines are export only and often made from Elbling and Müller-Thurgau varieties. Sold with labels like "Piesporter Michelsberg" - meaning unspecified vineyard in the area of Piesport. In other words, not from the excellent Goldtröpfchen.

Goldtröpfchen is the real star in Piesport and our latest visit in July revealed that the 2016 vintage is not a step down from the legendary 2015. This time around we had the pleasure of visiting Hain, Später-Veit, Weingut Kirsten, Lehnert-Veit and Manfred Breit. All of them showcasing wines of high quality with elegance, depth and purity.

2016 Hain Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Riesling Trocken
91	Aroma had peach and lime. Flavor was fruity with peach, mirabelle and hints of lime. Finished dry.  Compelling, mineral and tense.

2016 Hain Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Riesling Spätlese feinherb Alte Reben
91	Plenty of fruit in the nose complimented with a subtle mineral touch. Flavor was bursting with fruit, amazing depth and a well rounder off dry finish.

2016 Kirsten Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Spätlese Trocken
89	Aroma had peach and honey. Flavor was fruity with peach, lime and hints of floral honey.

2016 Kirsten Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Spätlese Feinherb
91	Melon and peach in the aroma. Flavor had ripe fruit with underlying mineral notes. Very nice balance.

2015 Kirsten Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Spätlese Feinherb
90	Mineral nose with a touch of mirabelle and lemon. Flavor was off dry with mirabelle and minerals. Off dry finish.

2015 Später Veit Goldtröpfchen Spätlese "Reserve" 12°
90	Fruity nose with peach, mirabelle and minerals. Flavor was quite full bodied with notes of peach, vanilla and honey. Finished bone dry despite the pungent fruit.

2015 Später Veit Goldtröpfchen Tradition Feinherb 12°
90	Aroma had plenty of fruit featuring peach and lemon. Flavor was slightly sweet with lovely delicate peach, honey, melon and mirabelle. Layered and concentrated but still felt light. Fnished sweet.

2015 Lehnert-Veit Goldtröpfchen Riesling Trocken "Unsere Nr. 1"
89	Fruity aroma with hints of  peach, red apple and lemons. Flavor had a touch of honey and delicate peach. Good texture, sharp and dry finish.

2011 Lehnert-Veit Falkenberg Spätburgunder
89	Blackberries and black currant in the nose along with hints of tannins and oak. Flavor was dry with a good amount of acidity followed up by dark fruit, tannins and oak. Tight and clean.

2015 Manfred Breit Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Riesling Spätlese - trocken
89	Mineral nose followed up by mirabelle and lemon. Flavor was dry and minerally featuring mirabelle, lemon and delicate peach.

2015 Manfred Breit Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Riesling GG
88	Nose had lemons and lime. Flavor was a bit closed still but showed notes of lemon, lime and delicate peach. Drink from 2018.

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