2023 Westhofener Morstein Trocken Grosses Gewachs
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Tasting notes
Compared to the Brunnenhäuschen, Wittmann's 2023 Morstein Riesling GG is light and clear but also still very reduced in the fresh and mineral, even savory and precise nose, which is still restrained in the fruit. Pure and extremely salty on the palate, with a very firm and grippy structure and an almost dry/drying minerality, this Morstein draws saliva. It seems more austere and sinewy here and now than the Brunnenhäuschen, and it's still extremely influenced by limestone. This is a great and promising wine. Tasted at the Vorpremiere VDP.Grosses Gewächs in Wiesbaden in August 2024. In another tasting two days earlier at the domaine, the 2023 Morstein showed a wonderfully chalky, elegantly fruity and balanced nose. Pure and with citrusy freshness as well as chalky salinity, this is a ravishingly fine, elegant and clever Morstein that is light-years away from the abundance and power of the 2000s and early 2010s. This is vibrant and stimulating salty and truly reminiscent of Champagnes from the Côte des Blancs. A magnificent Morstein!
Critic scores
Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
Julia Harding MW, jancisrobinson.com
More reviews and scores
AP number 19 24. Certified organic. This smells a little darker than the Kirchspiel, a little smokier in its minerality. A touch fumy, too. Deep, zesty and full of fruit energy and marked acidity on the finish. Needs time. (JH)
A tritone nose of generous red and yellow fruit, white flowers and green herbs. Smoky, with wild mint and a concentrated complexity, cool momentum. Lower alcohol makes for a lively and (earlier) approachability, with an elegant citrus bitterness the longer it stays in the glass. (PS)
The 2023 Riesling Westhofener Morstein Grosses Gewächs still flickers with the slightest flinty reduction on its cool nose, but with air, lemon moves in and stays center stage. The palate is just as lemony and immediately projects cooling, moist, chalky depth. The palate is slender, delving deep into that chalkiness. Scented with lemon and bedded on soothing, citric yeast, the finish is totally zesty, precise, strait-laced, pristine and very long. (Bone-dry)