The BEST of the BEST of GERMANY

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I use this wine key: Forge de Laguiole Ebony
I have used this glass in this Video: Gabriel StandArt
I have tasted the following wines in this Video:

2022 Maximin Grünhaus - Weingut der Familie von Schubert BRUDERBERG Riesling Mertesdorf Mosel-Saar-Ruwer

2022 Wittmann MORSTEIN Riesling Westhofen Rheinhessen

2022 Rings SAUMAGEN Riesling Kallstadt Pfalz

2021 Rings SAUMAGEN Spätburgunder Kallstadt Pfalz

2021 Bernhard Huber SCHLOSSBERG Spätburgunder Hecklingen Baden

2021 Jean Stodden HERRENBERG Spätburgunder Rech Ahr

96-100: An extraordinary wine of profound and complex character displaying all the attributes expected of a classic wine of its variety. Wines of this caliber are worth a special effort to find, purchase and consume.
90 - 95: An outstanding wine of exceptional complexity and character. In short, these are terrific wines.
80 - 89: A barely above average to very good wine displaying various degrees of finesse and flavor as well as character with no noticeable flaws.
70 - 79: An average wine with little distinction except that it is soundly made. In essence, a straightforward, innocuous wine.
60 - 69: A below-average wine containing noticeable deficiencies, such as excessive acidity and/or tannin, an absence of flavor or possibly dirty aromas or flavors.
50 - 59: A wine deemed to be unacceptable.

This tasting event is special, not just because you get to taste wines from different producers made from the same grand cru / Großes Gewächs site next to each other, or because your teeth start hurting after the second day of tasting high-acid wines.
It is invite-only and press, trade, and sommeliers come from all around the world to take part in it.
You CAN taste all 471 wines during the three-day event as it is very well organized: You order wines and the staff brings flights of wines to your table, where you sit, taste and write.
This year I am going to focus on the Rieslings from the 2022 vintage and the Pinot Noirs from the 2021 vintage, even though there were some delicious wines from other grape varieties and vintages in the tasting too.
As you probably know: Riesling is the most widely planted grape variety in Germany. It accounts for almost one-quarter of all vineyards, and it is the grape variety most closely associated with Germany producing some of the finest white wines in the world. To qualify for Großes Gewächs – GG – Status wines need to be dry, so there are no off-dry to sweet wines in the mix
Pinot Noir, or Spätburgunder, is the most widely planted red grape variety in Germany as it grows in 11% of the vineyards. German Pinot is a success story and many of the best Pinots come from VDP wineries.
The vintages 2021 and 2022 were vintages marked by weather extremes in opposite ways and it showed in the wines tasted at the event.
2021 was very wet with little sunshine and high humidity causing rot and unripeness. Some of the reds therefore showed green notes that weren’t very pleasant. It was also the year of the massive floods in the Ahr valley that left a region and its wine industry in ruins.
2022 was the opposite as there was hardly any rain and a lot of sunshine – as it was the sunniest summer since records have been kept. These conditions caused vines to suffer. Some young vines died and even older vines shut down ripening due to the stress. The rain came back with a vengeance in September causing problems during the harvest.
Even amongst the wines at the tasting, which represent the best wineries and wines in the Bundesrepublik, I still had to be picky to find the really exciting ones. Anyways let's taste the wines.

[SirWussiePants]

Tasting all those Rieslings side by side sounds like heaven to me. My problem is that I doubt I could spit a 97 point wine so I would be drunk before the third flight. I guess being a Master of Wine/wine taster requires one quality I just don't have - self control! I will definitely be looking for some of these.

[stephenbest]

His enthusiasm is infectious, love the show.

[darkerbinding]

My heart goes out to the victims of the flooding. Thank you for the video.

[mikaelplaysguitar]

Yes! Favourite video of the year! Wish you'd do more to include even more wines, just can't get enough! Maximin Grünhaus is for sure among my favourite VDP producers.

[georgeliapis]

My fav from a vdp winery was the 2011 SA Prum GG Riesling; a liquid poem. Magic wine. I have to say though, these floods really saddened me, such a terrible loss of life due to extreme weather. It’s valiant of you to showcase a wine from the region that got hit the most.

[cloudius]

Liebe es, dass du Saumagen erklärt hast 😅

[rickkan]

great video, just asked a friend who was in Berlin to see if she could get me one or more of these bottles but the shops she went to didn't carry any of them, however, one of the shop's manager told her that she knew you, pretty cool.

[tabby]

we have the maximin grunhaus on our pairing at work atm, really classy and vibrant riesling

[dinoecco]

Heading to Germany in 3 weeks time. Good timing to learn more about German white

[CembaloMeister]

I am a big fan of the wines of Weingut Keller, specifically their GG higher-end wines like Kirchspiel and Hubacker.

[idontexist]

my 2 favorites, rieslig and spätburgunder. thanks for testing. i'll check these wines asap.

[khosimokhesi]

They all sound really good. You've given them some "humdinger" scores ay!

[_Seppixx]

I am also a big Fan of the winery Rings.
It is almost 15 minutes away of my home and these guys are doing an awesome job.
When you are not able to get the high end wines just start with the "Gutswein" of them because this one is already a pleasure.
Same for their other basis wines are just on an outstanding level and you get it for round about 10-12 € :)

[quickguru]

Fantastic video again! Thanks so much!

[andrewgtku]

Hey Konstantin, tried some of those wines at the Howard Ripley en primeur in London, and that Wittman was fantastic! Also you do look quite tired after all those tastings, have some rest man, we don't want you to burn yourself! Look after yourself, your content is absolutely brilliant!

[nattverden]

There's so many excellent wines to choose from in the VDP, but perhaps the wine most deserving of more attention than it gets is the Juliusspital Iphöfer Julius-Echter-Berg silvaner trocken GG.

[sarahmulloy]

Excellent timing on this one; the Kulinarische Weinwanderung in Freinsheim is this weekend and Rings' Saumagen just shot to the top of my must-try list while out on the trail!

Thanks for sharing your expertise, particularly on German wines.

[gustavomgomes]

Whaaal! Really nice wines ! To answer your question : I love the Künstler VDP wines . But I recently found a store with some old trocken Künstler bottles that were really well kept and the wine was amazing, reduced, darker, but yet lively and fresh ! Riesling can be really amazing ! Cheers !

[BigBobDookie]

My favorite VDP wine is the Dönnhoff Norheimer Kirschiek Spätlese 2017. 🤤

[AlexanderRozema]

I really like that you gave Rings a big stage in this video!
For me one of the best upcoming, if not allready there, producers of Germany!
Amazing concentrated, reductive and still refreshing and pleasant Pfalzer wines. GG’s having their own signature, while the ‘base wines’ (Kalk und stein/das kleine kreuz) are also one of a kind!