2017 Keller Riesling G-Max

Keller's 2017 Riesling G-Max shows a clear nose with ripe, concentrated fruit and saline notes of crushed rocks and already indicates a fine tannin quality. Elegant and juicy on the palate, this is a very dense and firmly structured dry Riesling with concentrated fruit and a still somewhat phenolic structure that is even astringent on the finish. It has a currently slightly untamed character that is reminiscent of game. It is still inaccessible but a promising G-Max with power and structure that needs a lot of patience (or another decade in the bottle). Tasted blind as wine number 19 in this historic G-Max vertical at Steinheuer's Restaurant Zur Alten Post in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, January 2024.

Smoky, stony intensity on the nose anticipates the sense of pithy, palpably mineral-infused concentration exhibited inner-mouth. Lime and crabapple offer welcome bright, tart juiciness while staining the palate with the piquancy of their seeds – an impression reinforced by a bittersweet note of chewy almond skin. In an effort not to be outdone in vibrancy by its impressive Grosses Gewächs siblings – in particular, the Abtserde – this wine, too, shakes up the mouth as it deposits a nearly ineradicable array of smoky, stony, oily, alkaline and other, hard-to-name mineral traces.

To be bottled August 2018. Very old vines, very low yield. Vineyard(s) never divulged by the Kellers. Has the fumey mineral character of the Pettenthal Grosses Gewächs on the nose but also a peachy citrus fruit note and a light herbal quality on the palate. Eye-watering acidity and purity. More linear than the Abts E and the Morstein GGs, more direct and arrow-like. Incredibly primary and not ready, for tasting let alone for drinking. With such intense wines in the 2017 vintage, the G-Max does not stand out as much for its intensity as in other vintages, but the length is immeasurable. (JH)