Pure class as Theresa Breuer wins Riesling of the Year
Congratulations to Theresa Breuer! The boss of the brilliant Georg Breuer estate in Rüdesheim – who, in just her mid-30s, is marching into her 17th harvest in charge of the estate – has landed another major accolade. Europe’s prestigious Vinum Magazine’s Riesling-Champion competition has just crowned Theresa’s 2018 Berg Rottland Riesling of the Year.
The wine isn’t available here right now, but it does give us an excuse to celebrate this wonderful estate whose intricate but understated Riesling tends to emerge only slowly. The 2016 and 2017s are just opening up to show precisely what Wines of Germany author Anne Krebiehl MW means when she says Theresa has “honed a very distinctive style that unites the seemingly contradictory virtues of slenderness with textural richness and beautiful, herbal aromatics”.
Weingut Georg Breuer is a worthy champion. Get among the spoils!
2017 Georg Breuer Rüdesheim Estate Riesling $43
Honey toast, green apple, faint peach notes, bright perfume despite the fruitiness. Palate is juicy but cut well with brisk, glass shard edges, good length, vitality. Faint herb and fennel notes on green apple flavours, something talc-like, steely notes. Sheesh, this has a lot going on. Brilliant.
94 points. Mike Bennie, The Wine Front
2017 Georg Breuer Terra Montosa Riesling $64
Breuer’s 2017 Riesling Terra Montosa blends Rieslings from the steep vineyards in Rüdesheim (Berg Roseneck, Berg Schlossberg, Berg Rottland) and Rauenthal (Nonnenberg) that are characterized by deep phyllite, loam and quartz/slate soils. This “super second” of the grand crus opens with a deep, fresh and stony-mineral nose with a flinty and crystalline impression. While it is pure but ripe and dense on the nose, the palate is generous and elegant in its texture and fruit. The wine has a full body and good mineral structure that carries it into a long, aromatic, densely woven, crystalline and salty finish. There is good tannin grip and spiciness here as well as a lot of salt and character. Bottled with a moderate 12% alcohol but so much power, grip and intensity!
93 points. Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate
2017 Georg Breuer Berg Schlossberg Riesling $164
The 2017 Rüdesheimer Berg Schlossberg Riesling is still a bit oaky at this early moment but clear, bright and fresh on the nose. The attack on the palate is quite racy, but this lean and elegant Rüdesheim Riesling is a densely woven, tight and concentrated, very mineral and crunchy Berg Schlossberg with a piquant and tightly woven finish. This promising 2017 is far too young to be enjoyed in the next five years.
94+ points. Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate
2016 Georg Breuer Berg Schlossberg Riesling $164
The 2016 Rheingau Riesling Rüdesheim Berg Schlossberg has a very clear, deep, pure and flinty bouquet of bright fruit and crushed stone aromas. This is absolutely fascinating in its purity, finesse and complex elegance. Round and terribly lush on the palate, with very fine tannins and ripe, crystalline acidity, this is a highly elegant, delicate and complex Riesling that is enormously filigreed yet tensioned and long. A goddess of the greatest finesse and elegance. The sweetness, body and minerality are in perfect balance.
95 points. Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate
2014 Georg Breuer Berg Schlossberg Riesling $149
Super stony and pure on the very deep and intense nose, which displays ripe fruit and refreshing lemon aromas, the 2014 Rüdesheimer Berg Schlossberg Riesling Trocken is a full-bodied, powerful wine with melting stones as well as an enormous salinity and structure. It is very grippy, firmly structured, and very long and complex. A great and persistent wine. Lots of finesse and elegance.
94 points. Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate