Bischel - Hundertgulden 2018
We drink from Weingut Bischel located in Appenheim the 2018 Großes Gewächs Hundertgulden.
A double premiere is in the glass this time. A very small one for us, as we are drinking the first Großes Gewächs from 2018, and a slightly bigger one for Weingut Bischel. Since the 2018 vintage, Bischel is a member of the VDP in Rheinhessen, making it the first Großes Gewächs from the Hundertgulden, which became a Große Lage with the entry of Bischel into the VDP. In the Hundertgulden limestone dominates the deeper soil layers and as we have seen while drinking Knewitz, the site can produce great Rieslings. We are looking forward to tasting what Christian and Matthias Runkel have brought into the bottle from the warm and dry year 2018.
Freshly poured it starts with yellow fruit, creaminess, some brioche and freshly cut apple in the nose, but everything rather reserved. With all the more force the first sip hits you in the face. Enormous density, minerality, extract and a structure and acidity that clings to the tongue and at the same time tightens the cheeks. This came unexpectedly after the first smelling, which continues to rely on understatement even after the fireworks in the mouth. There is so much power, so much stone and draught coming out of the wine, which leads you very clearly and focussed where it wants to go. An impressive tasting sip and we are curious what the next hours will bring.
In the course of the evening more fruit joins the aroma. Maracuja, a bit of lactic and now also some flint. The nose approaches what was there in the taste from the beginning and offers with the fruit, which does not arrive in the mouth at all, a beautiful framework, which emphasizes the power. The acidity, the structure and somewhere in between some charming creaminess. This is great and even more so coming from the heat of 2018. I would say that the wine deserves to play in the upper league of the VDP wines. It does not have to hide itself in any case.
One night in the fridge does not yield a big change. The Hundertgulden is still very young, it would have taken several days to see where the development goes, but it is too drinkable for that. There is more citrus there now, clear grapefruit, canned pineapple and some mango, which you can now find on the tongue. Of course it continues to pull at all corners of the mouth, the acid bite remains, the density too. A few herbs still show in the last sips, which remain as from the beginning for a long time. We’ll wait a bit longer with the next bottle, it will definitely get better, but the wine doesn’t really need to get better. I have not regretted uncorking it for a second. A great introduction to the VDP that Bischel has put out.