2022 Donnhoff Leistenberg Kabinett

94 Points James Suckling
In stock
A super-stylish German Riesling from the lauded Donnhoff. This is off-dry with a beautiful floral/mineral nose and a zingy palate of ripe citrus and tree fruits. From a cooler site, fine but succulent sweetness balances against perfect acidity and a background minerality from slate soils. Classy and collectible, this is all things to all people and a must with rich white meat dinners.
$49.99 in mixed 6+ or $55.99 per bottle

Grape

Riesling

Its Origins

Hailed by the likes of Robert Parker and Hugh Johnson and named Gault Millau Winemaker of the Year in 1999, Helmut Donnhoff is regarded in German Riesling circles as a super-star. And if you’re thinking that term is somehow an oxymoron, you’d probably find Helmut agrees. With the affable humility and deep deference to his vineyards of someone whose family have been making wine since 1750, Donnhoff believes that “winemaking alone cannot bring quality, it can only retain the available quality.” Wine is made in the vineyard, and from taking the helm in 1971 to the present day Helmut has grown the family holdings from 4 hectares to a still modest 20 hectares of lovingly managed vineyards. 80% of these are Riesling (many of them Erste Lage or Grand Cru) with the other 20%, reflecting Nahe’s less austere climates and more mixed clay and volcanic soils, given to Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc. But Riesling is king, with Helmut Donnhoff’s many classics from the steeper slate soils having themselves played a prominent role, over the last forty years, in formalising Nahe’s reputation as Germany’s third region for consistently premium and Grand Cru wines.

What The Critics Say

94/100 James Suckling

"Stand back as this riesling lightning strike arrives. Complex nose of dried flowers and summer meadows. Ripe and juicy, but also very elegant and crisp with stunning mineral freshness at the very long pointed finish. Delicious, but also excellent potential. From organically grown grapes with Fair'n Green certification. Drink or hold."

95-96+/100 Heiner Lobenberg

“The Tonschiefer Riesling also comes from this vineyard. The grapes ripen late enough here to reach full aromatic maturity. The cabinets grow in the Leistenberg over a hilltop, where the sun is perfect in the morning until noon, but in the evening already comes quite quickly into the shade. So moderate ripeness and very rarely botrytis. A somewhat cooler site, you can pick the grapes quite late, even the Kabinets. According to Helmut Dönnhoff , the history of the Leistenberg is that of the Kabinett, light-footed, delicate, slightly residually sweet wines have always been harvested here. A brilliant, barren clay slate soil that gives this wine its lightness. This is not carbonaceous slate as in the Middle Moselle, but rather the slate as in the Saar. And the wine also has this lightness, this delicacy of the Saar. It's quite amazing. The most delicate temptation. The mouth is crystalline and so infinitely fine, floats over the tongue, elegant, finely chiseled, is as bright as a bell in the fruit, but has this gripping, dark graphite underpinning, as does the Scharzhofberg. For food, the wine is actually almost too delicate, the Toad Toad can stand up better against it. Leistenberg Kabinett is simply to dream and enjoy. The infinite lightness of being. The finesse is breathtaking.”

17.5/20 and Good Value Jancis Robinson MW

"Refined and delicate. Pure and racy. Just what the doctor ordered … GV" Drink 2024 - 2032

Variety Riesling
Region Nahe
Closure Cap
Volume 750 ml
Alcohol 8.50%
Maturity 2024 - 2035

This Wine Goes Well With

with PORK
with POULTRY
with SALMON

Taste

3

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