2014 Westhofen BRUNNENHÄUSCHEN Abts E Riesling Grosses Gewächs Q.b.A. trocken Klaus Peter Keller, Rheinhessen (3l)

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate - 2014 Westhofen BRUNNENHÄUSCHEN Abts E Riesling Grosses Gewächs Q.b.A. trocken, Klaus Peter Keller

Kept for 40 hours on the skins, Keller's always very low-yielding 2014 Westhofener Brunnenhauschen Abtserde Riesling Grosses Gewachs is sharp and precise on the nose like a laser sword cutting through a chalky rock, leaving dust and grated lemon skins. Coming from a vineyard with high active chalk in the soil, this wine is medium to full-bodied, very pure, elegant, and full of energy and concentration; it is piquant, precise and provided with a straight, super long and tension-filled finish with stimulatingly juicy fruit in the persistent aftertaste. This is great dry Riesling from a difficult year, which was, however, not that difficult in the Abtserde (a special plot inside the Brunnenhäuschen). Due to regularly poor fruit sets (coulure), the grapes are never that compact; the grapes consist partly of extremely small and seedless berries, which might explain the intensity of Keller's Abtserde. Generally, this is a great advantage in misty autumns like in 2014, because the wind dries the berries quickly and keeps them healthy. I recommend to drink the Abtserde from Zalto's Burgundy glasses, which bring out the chalky/salty character even better than the Universal glass from which I tasted the wine. - Stephan Reinhardt, Dez. 2015