From old vines and vinified in large oak cask, the 2021 Niederh?user Hermannsh?hle Riesling Trocken Magnus opens with a pure yet intense and complex nose with savory and iodine notes of crushed stones and ripe, elegant and finely flinty fruit aromas. Round and savory, this full-bodied and lush Riesling is supple, refined and very elegant on the well-balanced and persistently saline palate. Very stimulating indeed. 13% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted in October 2022.

Ripe and exotic, with underlying earthy mineral notes, exuding apricot, mandarin orange and spice aromas and flavors, backed by powerful acidity and a rich, open texture. Well-balanced and ending with a long, mineral-infused finish. Give this a few more years to fully show itself. Best from 2021 through 2028. 45 cases imported.??–AZ??Region: Germany / Nahe Select to Add

I once again, reprehensively, failed to find time for a visit to Weingut Jakob Schneider, but on the strength of a 2010 Niederhauser Hermannshohle Riesling Trocken Magnus – coming on the heels of those 2009s, especially that vintage’s rendition of this particular bottling, on which I reported in issue 192 – it’s clear that young Jakob Schneider is striving for and gradually attaining excellence of a sort that at this address, following the death of his and this estate’s namesake, essentially leapfrogged two generations (to whom I mean no disrespect with that remark, and one of whom I personally got to know well). That’s important, good news indeed, given the Schneiders’ choice holdings and the fact that they farm the second-largest share of the Hermannshohle. (In fact, they own by far the largest share, but Donnhoff’s recent deal with Gut Hermannsberg – for details of which consult the introduction to my report on the latter estate in issue 192 – now makes him the largest farmer.) Young Jakob Schneiders’ prestige (“Magnus”) bottling of dry Hermannshohle delivers layers of distilled and fresh red berries and pit fruit; citrus; and nut oils, accented by wet stone and crystalline mineral notes and well-integrated fruit pit and herbal piquancy. Voluminous and firm yet persistently juicy and not at all alcoholically freighted, this should be worth following for at least another half dozen years. Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300

Young Jakob Schneider’s recent work came to my attention not only thanks to his importer and to curiosity on my part, but also through no less formidable of an endorsement than that of Helmut Donnhoff, and the bottle of Schneider 2009 Niederhauser Hermannshohle Riesling Trocken Magnus that he shared with me was impressive indeed. High-toned kirsch and herbal essences in the nose migrated to a full yet lively palate, leading to a fascinating and sustained interaction with myriad herbal, mineral and orchard fruit elements. This impeccably-balanced dry Riesling should be worth following for at least half a dozen years. The Schneiders were until recently by a nose the largest landholders in the great Hermannshohle, of which they still control around one-quarter. I used to visit this estate back in the 1980s and early ‘90s when the garrulous grandfather of today’s Jakob Schneider presided over distinctively old-fashioned and site-specific Riesling and a large if sometimes repetitive trove of anecdotes and wine lore. In those days, this was the only important Riesling-growing estates I knew that still raised livestock and grain alongside.Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300