2023 Niersteiner Hipping Grosses Gewachs

Great Amalfi lemon, pineapple, wildflower and flint intensity is married to a minerally and racy strictness that might shock some. But as this aerates in the glass, it expands in an incredible way. The interplay of wet stones and salty character with peachiness on the medium-bodied palate is off the scale. Extremely focused and deep finish. Great aging potential, but you can drink it from release.

The 2023 Riesling Niersteiner Hipping Grosses Gewächs comes with yeasty, reductive funk on the nose. The palate, however, unites the deep savor of red stone with ripe citrus. Crushed lemon foliage lends its scented ether to the vivid aroma of tangerine peel. Phenolic elements are tangy and pithy at first but melt like tiny specks of ice on the palate, adding their slender weight to this central, vital concentration that radiates with citric verve. The dried medicinal herbs and yarrow of the Red Slope accent the long, textured finish. This is svelte, stony, taut, lip-smacking and wonderfully hair-raising. Seatbelts required—what a ride. Available at auction: 360 bottles, 6 magnums, 3 double magnums. (Bone-dry)

Red slate, steep slope. Basket-pressed like all their top wines.  Fermented in tank. 15 months on lees. Tank sample. Intense stony/smoky and ripe lemon fruit but with a pretty lift, too, a suggestion of clementine, apricot and white blossom. Massive tension on the palate, so highly strung and so long. Piercing freshness and streamlined on the palate. An arrow-like wine and yet that first impression of scented citrus persists to the end. Very long. Extreme, almost athletic in its framework. Salty/citrus across the finishing line. (JH)