2020 Rheinhessen Hölle Riesling

Blend: 100% Riesling

Vineyard: The Saulheimer HÖLLE is a rising southern slope between two hills in the west of Saulheim. The vines grow at an altitude of 150m to 225m above sea level. Due to its valley-like location, the vineyard heats up extremely quickly and is characterized by its wind-protected microclimate. In the HÖLLE vineyard, there is the highest concentration of Limestone in the chalky soils, mixed with clay and loam.

Tasting Notes: The brilliant bouquet soars from the glass in a magical mélange of dried apricots and dried oranges, delicate notes of petrol and a profoundly complex base of salty limestone minerality. On the palate, the wine is deep, full-bodied and utterly seamless, with stunning intensity of flavour, sharp-edged focus, electric purity, ripe acids and a simply endless finish that is almost gem-like in its precision.

Vinification & Ageing Process: At the end of October, the grapes were picked exclusively by hand at the ideal moment of their ripeness. The pressing, the vinification and the wine-maturing took place in our winery in Saulheim. Prior to pressing, we left the crushed grapes for 30 hours on their skins to extract a maximum of flavour compounds. The musts were fermented spontaneously in old, up to 50 years old German oak barrels with a capacity of 600 litres. After maturation of 9 months in the barrels on the full lees, the wines were bottled in June.

Alcohol: 13%

Formats: 750ml, 6 bottles per case

Private Client $72.50/btl Investment of $435.00 per case

Licensee: $64.56/btl Investment of $387.36 per case

Thörle

The Thörle wine estate, whose history goes back to the 16th century, took a major turn in 1985. Following his father Jakob's footsteps, Rudolf Thörle shifted the focus to traditional grape varieties, including Riesling and other Burgundian varieties. Since then, the family has invested in blocks of vines in the Grand Cru and Premier Cru of the Saulheim region. Now under the leadership of Christophe and Johannes Thorle, the quality of their wines is achieved through attention to detail in every aspect of production: horse manure and grape marc instead of artificial fertilizers, permanent greening of the plots, reduced yields, and selective hand harvesting.