Region: Rheingau Grapes: Riesling First Glance: Complex, Textural, Racy, Long Acclaim: 95pts
The Wine: The Prinz estate is indeed a revelation. Founded as the archetypal 'garage estate' in 1991, Fred Prinz started making small batches of wine under his house whilst working as the winemaker at the Kloster Erberbach estate. By 2004 Fred and his wife Sabine had created their own estate and started nurturing vines and making wine full-time. The 9.2ha estate is farmed organically and biodynamically, enhancing the finished wines' concentration and intensity. The use of skin contact fermentation makes for wines with a slight chewy texture, offset by detailed acid thanks to the high altitude sites that are set back from the Rhine. In these locations the cooler temperature allows for grapes that retain acidity and have more focus.
The Review: James Suckling - 95pts "If you wonder why you should take the Rheingau seriously here’s a very good reason. Deep and complex nose of licorice, Amalfi lemon and white peach. Highly structured, with tons of crushed-stone character on the compact and crisp, medium-bodied palate. With a bit of aeration the peachy side of this wine expands and expands in the glass! From organically grown grapes."
