Dr Brklin-Wolf Riesling Gaisbhl G.C. 2023

Certified Organic, Biodynamic & VeganVariety:RieslingCountry, Region:Germany, Pfalz

Located in the village of Ruppertsberg, Gaisbhl dates to medieval times and was one of the five top-rated sites in the 1828 Classification. Today it is a monopole of Dr Brklin-Wolf, who owns the entire 7.55 hectares of gravelly terraces over layers of clay and red and yellow sandstone. Replanted in 1977.
12.8 % Alc/Vol; 1.1 g/L RS; 6.1 g/L TA.

f you taste this quickly, youll love the ripe citrus fruit, including the peel, and the ample, beautifully rounded palate, but this has a crisp and dark side that gives it terrific tension. Super-long, flinty finish that takes your breath away. This has decades of life ahead of it. From biodynamically grown grapes. Vegan. Drink from release. 97 points, Stuart Pigott, JS Wine Ratings, July 2024.

The 2023 Gaisbhl G.C. opens with a deep, clear, fresh and almost earthy nose with wet clay and stone aromas. Full-bodied, round and savory on the palate, this is a generous, precise, saline and crunchy, finely tannic and powerful Riesling with a long, intense and forceful yet still refined and elegant finish. Impressive wine. 12.5% stated alcohol. Diam 30 cork. 96 points, Stephan Reinhardt, The Wine Advocate, January 2025.

‘I can hardly imagine better wines were produced in the Pfalz than here last year. Most likely, the 2019 Kirchenstck G.C. and the Pechstein G.C., both from Forst, and even the Langenmorgen G.C. from Deidesheim, are among the finest dry Rieslings I have ever tasted from Germany. The wines are deep, rich, powerful and dramatic yet so fine and elegant and reveal vibrating energy that guarantees a long run.‘Stephan Reinhardt, Vinous Media,August 2020.

The Brklin-Wolf estate is based in the Mittelhaardt, the quality core of Germany’s world-renowned Pfalz, around the towns of Wachenheim, Forst, Deidesheim and Ruppertsberg. Here with 85ha under vine they have the largest family owned wine estate in all of Germany originating in 1597, with a treasure-trove of superb vineyards, at the centre of which lies the great Kirchenstck. Here in the tiny village of Forst, Kirchenstck and its neighbours Jesuitengarten, Ungeheuer and Pechstein, have for centuries been recognised as producing not only some of the world’s greatest dry Rieslings, but simply some of the world’s greatest wines. In the nineteenth century, prices for these wines exceeded the prices paid for 1st Growth Bordeaux and Grand Cru Burgundy.

In 1990 Brklin-Wolf began reviewing their vineyard holdings in the context of the 1828 Royal Bavarian Land Tax Classification and after years of exhaustive research they discovered that today’s top vineyards are exactly the same as those identified back in 1828. Today they have adopted a Burgundian model with four tiers: Estate, Village, PC (code for Premier Cru) and GC (for Grand Cru). Thus they are focussed on the production of dry, terroir-driven wines and no longer produce the Kabinett and Sptlese styles defined by the (still current) 1971 German Wine Law.