Kunstler Rheingau Spatburgunder Tradition 2020
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A Pinot Noir with fine, ripe sour cherries and blackcurrant aromas. On the palate it is charming, juicy and easy to drink.
Other Vintages
2016-
James
Suckling
Gunter Künstler comes to us from the famous village of Hochheim am Main; in 17th century Britain the term ‘Hock’ was used to describe all Rhinegau wines. At that time, these wines were much more famous than Mosel wines and were more expensive than some of the finest Bordeaux. Thomas Jefferson visited the region in 1788 and described Rheingau Riesling as “small and delicate Rhysslin which grows only from Hochheim to Rudesheim”. He was so impressed with the quality that he found here, he took 100 cuttings of Rheingau Riesling back to Monticello. Hochheim was quite famous long before this and the region was known for producing quality wines in the Shakespearean era. Both ‘Hock’ and ‘Rhenish’ can be found in Shakespearean texts. Hochheim am Main is on the banks of the Main river, which flows west from Frankfurt, meeting the Rhein at Mainz, on the other side of the river from Hochheim. Essentially the vineyards in this village are at the cross of these two rivers, which certainly influences the wines produced here. Weingut Künstler has a history dating back to 1648.
Until the end of World War II, the family grew grapes on their estate 80 km north of Vienna, in Untertannowitz in the South Moravian Region in the Czech Republic. After expropriation and expulsion, Franz Künstler was forced to leave the homeland of his family and in 1965 he re-established the Weingut Künstler in Hochheim Main/Rheingau. In 1992 his son Gunter took over the estate, and in 1994 the estate was admitted to the VDP. Generally soils here are loess, clay, sand, loam, marl and limestone. The greatest sites in the village are Domdechaney (pronounced Dom-Dey-Sha-Nay), Kirchenstück and Hölle while you could consider Herrnberg and Stielweg 1er Crus.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
Practically one long and bucolic hillside along the northern bank of the Rhein River, the Rheingau stretches the entirety of the river’s east to west spread from Hocheim to Rüdesheim.
Variations in elevation, soil types, and proximity to the Rhine cause great diversity in Rheingau Riesling. Some of the better Rieslings in warmer years come from the cooler and breezier sites at higher elevations. In cooler years, sites closer to the river may perform better.
In the village of Rüdesheim, slopes are steep and soils are stony slate with quartzite; Rieslings are rich and spicy, intense in stone fruit and show depth and character with age. World class Rieslings come from farther east on the river through Geisenheim, Johannisberg, Winkel, Oestrich and past Erbach as well, where soils of loess, sand, and marl alternate. Long-living, floral-driven and mineral-rich Rieslings come from the best of these sites.
Rheingau growers became early activists in promoting the dry style of Riesling, low yields and the classification of top vineyards, or Erstes Gewächs (first growths). Proximity to the metropolitan markets of Mainz, Wiesbaden, and Frankfurt keeps Rheingau in high reputation. While dry wines are the style here, Rheingau isn’t short of some amazing Auslesen, Beerenauslesen, and Trockenbeerenauslesen.
Rheingau doesn’t mess with many other grapes—in fact 79% of its total area is dedicated to Riesling. But it produces some fine Pinot noir, especially concentrated in Assmannshausen, a bit farther west from Rüdesheim.