Wagner-Stempel - Heerkretz 2016
We drink the 2016 GG Heerkretz from Weingut Wagner-Stempel from Siefersheim in Rheinhessen.
After the Ortswein from Porphyr soil, which served as the last wine of last year in this blog and left quite an impression, it was time to take it up a notch. Also I seem to enjoy 2016 a lot right now. We are drinking the Großes Gewächs from the Heerkretz vineyard from 2016 from Weingut Wagner-Stempel. Located between Siefersheim and Neu-Bamberg in Rheinhessen, the Riesling vines in the Heerkretz vineyard grow on relatively barren volcanic soil. Especially at night a cool wind blows through the open site and the organically cultivated vines, giving the grapes more time to ripen. This allows cool, mineral wines with a lot of tension and this is exactly what Daniel Wagner tries to bring out.
Directly after opening the bottle we have a little bit of Mirabelle in the glass, rather cool aromas, yellow fruit, wet stones. But the fruit doesn’t stay for long and changes after a few moments more into a herbaceous, spicy nose. The first sip is extreme. So much structure on the tongue comes unexpectedly. On the palate, the cheeks and all the way out to the edges of the tongue. There’s acid grip, there’s a bit of bitterness from citrus peels and so much density, so much substance that you can chew on it. But the wine always remains focused, almost slim and elegant. In this uncompromising attitude, this is new for us and I am curious to see what happens with a little air.
But on this evening the wine remains true to itself. The structure is impressive. A bit of pome fruit, maybe citrus, rather in the background and rather difficult to grasp. But who needs fruit with this wine. We have already had several wines that live on the structure, on the mouthfeel. But it has never really been like this before. What remains on the tongue, the grip, the pull, the core and juiciness, plus the spice, the herbs. Awesome. This is the Porphyr without frills, this is the Porphyr with less and at the same time much, much more.
After a night in the fridge, the fruit becomes more intense. Darker in aroma, the ripe mirabelles are back. On the tongue there was not much to gain, rather the fear that something might get lost outweighed. But all-clear. Here it continues like the evening before and, even if I repeat myself, exactly this spice, this power and elegance, the fruit in the background and in addition this density on the tongue are just great at the moment. I am in love.