2016 Kiedricher Grafenberg Eiswein
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Tasting notes
Harvested on January 7, this displays an Eiswein-typical aromatic aura of sugar-glazed, candied fruits mingled with high-toned fruit distillates. On the custardy-rich yet buoyant palate, though, the impression is of a pineapple-studded, quince jelly-slathered lemon meringue, generating a productive tension of bright citricity with confitured and candied fruits. The finish is formidably penetrating and persistent, clean, clear and vibrant, with lemon, pineapple and candied white currant to the fore. It’s amazing that there is such purity and focused brightness on display from fruit that hung out, exposed to the elements, for so long. This will certainly be exciting to follow, and may well prove exceedingly long-lived; though the inherently capricious behavior of Eiswein should always serve as something of a warning (which is also what I intend with my intentionally conservative quantitative “drink by” estimate).(Release price referenced here is for 375 ml.)
Critic scores
Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
Picked on January 7, the 2016 Rheingau Riesling Kiedrich Gräfenberg Eiswein is super precise and spicy on the concentrated and aromatic nose where pineapple and some ethereal, spicy aromas are displayed. The wine is rich, round and elegant on the palate, very sweet but also piquant and pure, with very fine tannins and a long, vibrant finish. This is a truly great Eiswein with mind-blowing precision and sensual intensity. Total production: 900 liters. Tasted in October 2017.
Butterscotch, hazelnuts with caramel coating and ripe sweet mango are just some of the manifold aromas this Eiswein harbours. Global warming has had a profound influence on the character of Eiswein in general, as a higher ripeness of grapes seems to have moved them closer to Beerenauslesen. The extremely rich texture of the Gräfenberg appears to reflect that development, but on the other hand it also exhibits a sound measure of animating acidity, which brings it back into traditional Eiswein territory and banishes any trepidations of the sticky and cloying characteristics often met in ice wine made from other varieties. (MS)