German dry Riesling: Panel tasting results

Caro Maurer MW, Mark Dearing and Stefan Neumann tasted 74 wines with 8 Outstanding and 31 Highly recommended.

German dry Riesling: Panel tasting scores

74 wines tasted

Exceptional 0

Outstanding 8

Highly recommended 31

Recommended 26

Commended 8

Fair 1

Poor 0

Entry criteria: producer-members of the VDP organisation and UK agents were invited to submit their latest-release, dry Grosses Gewächs Riesling wines from any German region.

Riesling acts as a kind of medium: a mediator between origin and grape variety. In the best examples, the delicate Riesling aromas bear witness to the terroir within which each wine is produced – and also to the vintage, as was shown in this panel tasting, which featured a constellation of Grosses Gewächs (‘GG’) Riesling wines of varying styles.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores from the German dry Riesling panel tasting

The GGs are the German equivalents of ‘grand cru’ wines – exclusively dry wines [including grape varieties other than Riesling, though the majority are Rieslings] from the most-highly classified sites of the members of the Verband Deutscher Prädikatsweingüter (VDP) – an independent organisation of some 200 of Germany’s very best wineries united under a single banner.With respect to the vintages, 2018 was very warm, 2019 and 2020 were warm and dry, while 2021 was cool and damp. The differences were apparent in these single-site Rieslings, as the leading winemakers were able to bring out the determining factors of vintage with precision and finesse, while others seemed to cope less well with the natural circumstances.

Accordingly, the quality of these GG samples also ranges from just-acceptable to top-class with high ageing potential. In the best Rieslings, 2021 expresses itself with pronounced acidity, ravishing freshness and unleashed vivacity, while the authoritative wines from 2020 and 2019 focus more on accessibility, high concentration and density. 2018 already shows harmony and integration of all components that one can expect from a five-year-old Riesling.

The majority of the samples were from the 2021 vintage, the best among them excelling with fascinating tension, but also hearty accessibility, as agreed by all three tasters. Decisive advantages included, for Mark Dearing, the mineral profile, while for Stefan Neumann MS it was their potential for ageing. Some 2021 wines, said Dearing, may seem a bit shy at the beginning, and these need time to open up, but for him these are the long-runners. Neumann was particularly impressed by the 2021 wines from Rheinhessen and the Nahe: ‘It was a pleasure to experience them in the glass now: so lively, so fresh, so elegant. Everything already seemed in the right place. The only thing that is still missing, unfortunately, no one can buy: that is time.’ Indeed, the 2021s need the time to grow to their full potential.

There was unanimity among the judges in saying that Rheinhessen and Nahe stood out as the strongest regions in the tasting overall, while the weakest wines came from Baden-Württemberg, with samples being rather ‘simple’ and thus less exciting, according to Dearing. Neumann was also disappointed that the Rheingau, otherwise a dominant Riesling stronghold, did poorly with the 2021 vintage here. In Baden, the Pinot varieties, rather than Riesling, are the top stars, said Neumann: ‘If you want to drink Riesling in the south, it’s best to cross the Rhine towards Alsace.’

See all the German dry Riesling wines from the panel tasting

The tasters were untroubled by the fact that wine styles varied from very classic to modern reductive. As Dearing put it: ‘This is the strength of Riesling, that it is not the style of the winemaker that shapes it, but its origin.’ And that is exactly what the wines that achieved 95 points or above show. They come from different regions, and from different soils – what they have in common is their vitality and energy. Neumann agreed: ‘Why do we love Riesling so much? Every wine tells a different story, namely that of its homeland.’

German dry Riesling panel tasting scores

The judges

Caro Maurer MW is a German wine writer and WSET- and MW-level educator. A DWWA Regional Chair, she also contributes to Bonn’s daily newspaper General-Anzeiger and food and wine magazine Der Feinschmecker.

Mark Dearing is a wine buyer for London-based merchant and importer Justerini & Brooks, where his responsibilities include Germany as well as several other major wine nations and regions.

Stefann Neumann is an independent Master Sommelier who runs his own wine consultancy. A DWWA Regional Chair, he has many years of experience working in the world of Michelin-starred restaurants, and in 2023 launched an online blind tasting course to help students pass their wine exams.

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