Mittelrhein Riesling GG 2017: Jost, Lanius-Knab, Ratzenberger

Mittelrhein wines are not often seen, but they can provide surprisingly good drinking experiences. (Continue reading here.)

Rheingau Riesling GG 2017 Part V (Johannisberg, Rüdesheim, Lorchhausen): Allendorf, Eberbach, Fendel, Hessen, Johannisberg, Johannishof, Kessler, Künstler, Ress, Wegeler

I found a bit more irregularity here than in the other sectors of the Rheingau, although the producers I consider best made the best wines. (Continue reading here.)

Rheingau Riesling GG 2017 and 2016 Part IV (Oestrich, Mittelheim, Winkel, Schloss Vollrads): Allendorf, Eser, Hessen, Kühn, Schönleber, Spreitzer, Vollrads, Wegeler

Continued quality in this part of the Rheingau. (Continue reading here.)

Rheingau Riesling GG 2017 and 2016 Part III (Hattenheim and Hallgarten): Barth, Eser, Kühn, Müller, Prinz, Ress, Spreitzer

Plenty of outstanding wine here. Kühn, Prinz, and Spreitzer are consistent stars of the Rheingau, but the others are also producing outstanding wines, too. (Continue reading here.)

Rheingau Riesling GG 2017 Part II (Martinsthal, Kiedrich, Erbach): Diefenhardt, Jung, Kloster Eberbach, von Oettinger, Weil

Generally very good wines here, with a few touches of irregularity. (Continue reading here.)

Rheingau Riesling GG 2017 Part I: Flick, Künstler, Werner

This set of wines, kicking off the Rheingau presentation, demonstrates the excellent quality of the Rheingau vintage. (Continue reading here.)

Nahe 2017 Riesling GG Part IV: Emrich-Schönleber and Schäfer-Fröhlich

One has to wonder, is it just the excellence of these two great producers or was the western part of the Nahe the most successful subregion of the Nahe in 2017? Either way, all great wines. (Continue reading here.)

Nahe 2017 and 2016 Riesling GG Part III: Crusius, Dönnhoff, Hermannsberg, Schäfer-Fröhlich

Amazingly, all these wines, tasted one against the other, seemed just about equal in overall quality (the slightest of nods to Dönnhoff). It will be interesting with time to go back and see how they show. (Continue reading here.)

Nahe 2017 and 2016 Riesling GG Part II: Crusius, Dönnhoff, Hermannsberg

Karsten Peter is coming into his own and putting Gut Hermannsberg (a successor to the old Staatsdomäne) back onto the map as one of the elite Nahe estates. (Continue reading here.)

Nahe 2017 and 2016 Riesling GG Part I: Diel, Dönnhoff, Kruger-Rumpf, Salm, Schäfer

Yet again, the Nahe shows outstanding across-the-board quality for its Rieslings. (Continue reading here.)

Mosel-Saar-Ruwer 2017 Riesling GG -- Part VII: Fischer, Geltz-Zilliken, Lauer, von Othegraven, Weiss

Finishing up the outstanding wines of the Saar in particular, and the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer overall. (Continue reading here.)

Mosel-Saar-Ruwer 2017 Riesling GG -- Part VI -- von Othegraven and van Volxem

Who doesn’t like great Saar wines? (Continue reading here.)

Mosel-Saar-Ruwer 2017 GG -- Part V: Karthäuserhof and Maximin Grünhaus

Only three wines from the Ruwer Valley. (Continue reading here.)

Mosel-Saar-Ruwer GG 2017 -- Part IV: Grans-Fassian, Haart, Lieser, Weis

The riches continue as one moves upstream on the Mosel. (Continue reading here.)

Mosel-Saar-Ruwer GG 2017 (and a 2016) -- Part III: Fritz Haag, Lieser, Loosen, S. A. Prüm, Wegeler

This excellent group of wines includes a fascinating duel between the Haag brothers at Fritz Haag and Schloss Lieser. (Continue reading here.)

Mosel-Saar-Ruwer Riesling GG 2017 (and a 2014) Part II: Lieser, Loosen, S.A. Prüm, Wegeler

One can wonder if dry wines are the best use of these magnificent vineyards, but one can’t argue with the quality shown by these wines. (Continue reading here.)

Mosel-Saar-Ruwer Riesling GG: 2017 Part I: Heymann-Löwenstein and Knebel

One of my favorite producers, Clemens Busch, did not show any wines at the GG preview this year. I’m guessing that he, like many other producers, is holding his wines back a year and will show the 2017s next year. (Continue reading here.)

Franken Silvaner GG -- 2016 and 2017: Part III: Bickel-Stumpf, Castell, Juliusspital, Luckert, Ruck, Weltner, Wirsching

Outstanding wines from both vintages. (Continue reading here.)

Franken Silvaner GG -- 2016 and 2017: Part II: Fröhlich, Horst Sauer, Rainer Sauer, Zur Schwane

More outstanding Silvaner here. (Continue reading here.)

Franken Silvaner GG -- 2016 and 2017: Part I: Bickel-Stumpf, Bürgerspital, Juliusspital, Am Stein/Knoll, May, Schwab

It’s still early, but many of these wines were showing quite well. (Continue reading here.)

German Großes Gewächs Overview: 2017 and Earlier

At the end of August, I participated in the preview of Großes Gewächs wines in Wiesbaden. My reporting on the tastings has been held up by subsequent tastings in the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Franken (Franconia), and Austria, but later today the first of my notes will go up.

The vintage generally looks excellent for Riesling, especially for the Pfalz, Rheingau, and many Mosel-Saar-Ruwer producers. The Nahe, Rheinhessen, and Franken also look good for Riesling. The Silvaners from Franken additionally are quite good. Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir) is a bit more mixed, but there are some very good ones. Weiß Burgunder (Pinot Blanc) was not as interesting as usual.

As in the past few years, many producers have come to realize that late August is too soon to release and evaluate the wines, and so they are holding the wines back an additional year. This means that for whites, many of the wines reviewed are 2016, rather than 2017, and for Spätburgunder, many are earlier than 2016.