2018 Nierstein HIPPING Riesling Grosses Gewächs Q.b.A. trocken Klaus Peter Keller, Rheinhessen (0,75l)

Vinous - 2018 Nierstein HIPPING Riesling Grosses Gewächs Q.b.A. trocken, Klaus Peter Keller

Once again, this bottling represents the mid-slope vines in Keller’s Hipping, fruit from those above and below having been directed to the corresponding Kabinett and (70% Hipping) Niersteiner cuvée. Musky, bittersweet, iris-like perfume haunts the nose, accompanied by scents of white peach, lemon and orange, as well as smoky and crushed stone notes. The firm, full but by no means heavy palate delivers tang and piquancy of peach close to the core, a pronounced sense of mineral suffusion, zesty citricity and inner-mouth persistence of floral perfume. Bite of mustard seed and pungency of green tea add further invigoration and complexity to a vibrantly sustained finish strikingly strong on stony, smoky and alkaline notes, but unfailing in its duty to refresh. From his prime parcels in Hipping and Pettenthal, Keller is turning out the most memorable Nierstein Rieslings since the many glorious pre-1980 decades of Franz Karl Schmitt’s eponymous estate, from which Keller acquired them. - David Schildknecht, Nov. 2020