Maxime Open 2024 - Day 2
In Rheinhessen, you can also travel from winery to winery by bus and taste a lot of wine: Our second day at the Maxime Open 2024 on the Rhine front. Today we visit Schwabsburg, Dexheim and a bit more of Nierstein.
To outsmart the nagging at the wrist about too few steps, the second day of Maxime Open 2024 starts with a walk from Nierstein to Schwabsburg. The weather is good to us and everyone else here today, as the sun already blazes in the Red Slope early on. These are the moments when respect for the work of the winemakers grows a little bit more, because despite the wind and forecasted (but not measured by me due to the lack of a thermometer) 24 degrees Celsius, it is quite warm here. And red. The Roter Hang (Red Slope) lives up to its name with its iron-rich and therefore red soil. After a brief check on the information boards, we know that first Ölberg, then Heiligenbaum, and finally Orbel are sizzling in the sun to our right before we arrive at the F.E. Huff winery in Schwabsburg and start the tasting day. The certainly better-known names like Hipping and Pettenthal, which can also be seen in the title image, are far behind us at this point, right by the Rhine. If you have no idea where we are and what is happening here, you should ideally start with the report on Day 1. That helps with context.
Sunday is usually the day with fewer visitors at such an event. However, standing alone in the courtyard for the first few minutes is quite unexpected. It won’t stay this empty for long. We take advantage of the moment and start with Lisa Bunn, or now Bunn Strebel. All wines here come from wooden barrels. The Nierstein Riesling vom Rotliegenden 23 is, like many wines from 2023, still slightly yeasty, young, and unsorted. The herbaceousness already flashes through the yeast. The Hipping 22 then shows that a year of aging does a lot of good. And of course, the wine is overall a level higher. The acidity is super fruity and there is a lot of stone. Very long. This is a really good start to the day. The Grauburgunder Reserve 21 is perhaps the best Grauburgunder of this weekend. The wood is there, but super integrated, and the structure is just great. The Wintersheim Spätburgunder 22 is rather slim, with fine cherry and very fine-grained tannins. The Fraugarten Spätburgunder 20 has much more power. Behind the slight stink, there is a whole bowl full of cassis, a lot of freshness, and structure. The really good Portugieser wines can probably be counted on one’s fingers. This Portugieser Reserve 20 is one of them. As far as one can judge on a Sunday morning. There is fruit tea, then quite a lot, very dense grip, which is then cleared away by the fresh acidity. I like that a lot. As on the first day, the first wines set the bar quite high. We continue with the host F.E. Huff. The current generation at the winery are Christine Huff, who serves and explains, and Jeremy Huff-Bird, who is standing further up front in the courtyard behind the grill. Jeremy comes from New Zealand, and you can see that directly on the bottle of Blue Bird Riesling Kabi 23. At least if you get close enough to the bird to recognize the Maori design. Even from a distance, Kabi is actually never wrong, although I would have liked a bit more acidic pull. The better half is happy about Yellow Bird Sauvignon Blanc 22, I am not yet ready for passion fruit and green pepper. That’s okay. The Schwabsburg Riesling 22 is enormously juicy, pulls the tongue together, and then has a real zing. That’s nice. Even a bit nicer is the Rabenturm Riesling 22. It is essentially the Schwabsburg Riesling, only more. It is denser, more concentrated, more intense. That is really good. And now we also know that the Rabenturm, or Burg Schwabsburg, is the stone tower we already saw in the morning walk through the vineyards. The Sauvignon Gris Reserve 21 is first green and then develops more and more creaminess and spiciness. That is unexpected, unusual, but pretty cool. The Weingut Bernhard enters the race for the best-looking bottles right up front. Very chic. The Rosé 71|95 from 2023 initially tastes too much like rosé to me but then gets a structure and finesse that I quite like. The Scheurebe 23 is subtle, rather dark-fruited, and salty. Terrace wine. The Chardonnay 22 Limited Edition was actually intended for a cuvée but didn’t quite fit. However, as it developed really well over a year on the lees, the bottle is now here. You can feel the time on the lees, the structure is great, it’s creamy, spicy, and still very fresh. The Wolfsheimer Grauburgunder 22 is already the second great Grauburgunder on this still young day. I did not expect that. It is juicy, with fine fruit and lots of clarity. Unexpectedly beautiful. The Souvignier Gris 23 from Eva Vollmer has a lot of fruit and also a lot of structure. I think I would like it even better if it had a bit more pull. The Scheurebe 2022 has stone, peach, and a lot of cassis. Very nice. The Smoking Flamingo Rosé Fumé 23 is one of the wines this weekend for which glasses are passed next to us with “I have to try that label”. At least until people hear that it’s Dornfelder. The reaction in the now quite well-filled tasting room clearly shows how damaged a grape variety’s reputation can be and how hard it can be for such a wine. Nothing that would shock a Swabian Trollinger drinker though. And the (not at all sweet) cherry candy with smoke that comes out of the glass towards me, I actually quite like. The Kalkstein 23 Riesling from Rettig has a lot of yellow Riesling fruit and just as much unsorted yeast. No matter, because the Mostein 21 with its pull, almost orange citrus acidity, and touch of multi-vitamin juice is really strong. The Bechtheim Pinot 20 has a great cherry fruit, is intense, and a bit rough and tastes just like that. Also nice. The stomach grumbles and signals lunchtime to the brain. Luckily, Jeremy is at the grill. You remember. The lentil salad (not from the grill) is super and the homemade game sausage (from the grill) is even better. Sausage can be such an awesome food. Just burning my lips on it wasn’t necessary.
After a very short walk, we reach the next Huff. G.G. Huff to be precise. At Fogt, there is a spot in the shade, and so that is our starting point here. The Crémant Brut Nature made from Chardonnay and Pinot, with its two years in the bottle, is a great start with lots of brioche and zest. The Siefersheim Riesling 23 is herbaceous and, as you might guess, still a bit unsorted. The same goes for the Riesling Goldenes Horn 23. However, you can clearly feel that this is the much denser, spicier wine. A real fun wine is the Onkel Doktor 23, a homage to Georg Scheu, but as a cuvée with half Riesling and the other half Scheurebe. You can also taste this order. First crisp, then with Scheu aroma. Wins the prize for the best single bottle design. G.G. Huff Nierstein Roter Hang 23 shares its fate with the two bottles before it. Crisp, tight, and somehow unfinished. The Pettenthal 22 is further along. Sorted, dense, intense. And the Hipping Alte Reben 22 manages to add another layer. Denser, more intense, a wine you want to chew on. Very nice. At Schmitt, we taste a rare, single-variety Schwarzriesling, at least for Rheinhessen. It’s more common in Württemberg. The winemaker says he only makes this wine in good years and that Schwarzriesling involves quite a lot of work for him. 2020 was apparently one such good year. Great structure, great fruit. The Blanc de Blancs Brut Nature from Flick starts with yeast pastry, a bit of soap that then increasingly becomes mirabelle and lots of creaminess. That’s strong. The Morstein 22 is stony, spicy, and rather gentle in the acid structure. Stays on the tongue forever. The Silvaner Goldenes Horn 21 is also a complete structure wine. Tastes a bit like a wooden barrel, but has never seen wood. It’s mineral, intense, and really good. Great collection. J. Neus also has sparkling wine. The Blanc de Noirs Brut Nature 2019 vintage sparkling wine convinces with red berries, brioche, and lots of texture on the tongue. The two Ortswein wines from Ingelheim are just as good. The Ingelheim Spätburgunder 21 is rather subtle on the nose, slim, and then enormously juicy in the fruit. The Ingelheim Chardonnay 22 with lots of puffed grain, some reduction, yellow fruit, and light wood. Beautiful. And ironically, Braunewell has arrived without sparkling wine. At least for the visitors. On the table, for the salt in the wound of disappointment, stands a bottle of bubbly in a gift box. For the host winery. I voice my concerns here and also on site. The Essenheim Kalkstein Riesling 22 makes up for it. A long symbiosis of crisp acidity and creamy fruit that seems to become even more fruity. The Teufelspfad Grauburgunder 22 from over 50-year-old vines is then Grauburgunder highlight number 3 of this day. It starts creamy and with yellow fruit, becomes creamier, only to become even creamier. Very good. Luckily, grandpa liked Ruländer and no one has ripped them out in the meantime. We end the stop with a sip of Scheurebe Kabi.
The inevitable moment for such a weekend follows when the bus leaves right in front of our noses. We take it with humor and are lucky that the next ride reaches us in less than five minutes. Never lucky, sometimes slightly fortunate. Next stop, Dexheim. There is sparkling wine again here. The Sarazenenturm Brut 2019 from the David Spies winery spent 45 months on the lees. There’s a lot of pastry, yellow fruit, and a nice texture. I can’t get the question out of my head whether I would like it even more without dosage. This question doesn’t arise with the Morstein 22 Riesling. It is dense, intense, and long. That is a lot of wine in a very positive way. By this time, the day is unfortunately much further along than we would like, and the stomach grumbles again. A plate of small bites from Rheinhessen and a winemaker’s pretzel don’t turn back the clock but do solve the grumbling in the stomach. In return, there is only time for a quick sip almost in passing at the next bus stop with the host Fischborn. Ironically, the Riesling from the exile vineyards around Piesport on the Moselle has caught our attention.
A longer bus ride through Rheinhessen later, we arrive at our last stop of the day, at the Schätzel estate. Unlike the other stops, here all the winemakers share one shelter and stand directly next to each other. On a late Sunday afternoon, with fewer visitors, this is brilliant. Switching between wineries is now just a 50 cm shift. With more people on Saturday, it probably would have annoyed me quite a bit. We start in the middle of the stand with Heiligenblut. Even the estate Riesling has surprisingly much power. The Riesling Melaphyr 22 is crisp and juicy, and the Heiliger Blutsberg 21 steps it up. It’s so dense that it feels almost tiring late in the day. At least as good as the 2018 bottle. The two Silvaners are just as good. Mouthfeel wines. Riffel has brought a non-alcoholic sparkling wine, pardon, a sparkling beverage from de-alcoholized wine. The tasting sip is promising, but I don’t know if it would remain so for several glasses. I have to try it again. The Riesling Quarzit 22 is certainly great for a whole bottle. Lots of citrus fruit and zest. After a Scharlachberg 21 refreshment kabinett, there is the Weißburgunder & Chardonnay 20. Chardonnay from wood, Weißburgunder from a steel tank. Creamy smooth, but with punch. I like that Schätzel puts his petnaT3000 in a swing-top bottle. It’s uncomplicated, a bit wild, and quite berry-like. Also, a bit more expensive than what you usually drink from a swing-top bottle. The Steiner 17-22 is a cuvée of wines, as you might guess, from the years 17-22. It smells creamy yellow, has a fruity acidity, and then a totally nutty texture. It’s really strong, and like all Schätzel wines, has very low alcohol content. Here it’s just 10.5%. Only one percent more in volume is the Ölberg GG 21. Quite different from the Steiner, somehow cleaner and yet also somehow wild. Very long, with yellow Riesling fruit, but somehow also unconventional. I really like it. The Kabinett 22 is the consistently juicy finish. One sip of that and dry mouth is gone. The craziest sparkling wine of the two days comes from Münzenberger. The Mother Earth is a cuvée of Cabernet Blanc, Silvaner Orange, and Chardonnay from the barrel. Over 20 months on the lees, no dosage. Expressive, green, fruity, then fresh, then full of structure. Crazy stuff. I don’t know how many glasses this would hold up, but it’s very good. The Horizon Effect 22, Weißburgunder and Chardonnay, is yellow, creamy, and delicious. The Riesling Beyond the Matrix 21 from the Zornheimer Guldenmorgen is stony, mineral, and dense. Almost too young, even though it already has a few years under its belt. Maybe a bit too intellectual with the names and concepts. But the wines are great. The Scheurebe and Riesling PetNat 21 from Espenhof then shows that Scheu can also bubble. It’s simply delicious. With the La Roche Riesling 21, I briefly wonder if the slight green note bothers me. It doesn’t, it works really well here. And while Pinot from Ganevat from the Jura is being drunk behind the counter, we slide one last time to the right. We end with Zimmermann’s Siefersheimer Höllberg. The Höllberg 21 is also briefly green, then stone, stone, stone. It’s really strong. 12 euros from the estate. And if there are questions about how it ages: the Höllberg 2019 from the magnum dispels any doubts. Fine creaminess, some petrol, lots of minerality, and a great Riesling fruit. The icing on the cake for this weekend.
The question that remains is what do we take away from these two days? Apart from too many wine price lists, which are all available on the internet anyway. But that has also improved over the years. It’s also not a sunburn, which makes me a bit proud. Properly applied sunscreen every day. What I also don’t take away is an impression of what 2023 tastes like. Maybe to find out what 2023 tastes like in Rheinhessen, you simply have to come back in 2025. The vintage diversity is too great, and many 23s were simply still too unfinished and unsorted. Perhaps, in hindsight, it’s just that the unfinished aspects, as I wrote yesterday about reduction, hit you more when so many wines have already had time to lose it. What remains are many very good conversations with the people on the other side of each tasting table. More isn’t always more. Fewer stops and a smaller crowd contributed to the fact that we could have a chat at every stand. I lack the insight to assess how more or fewer visitors affect subsequent wine sales and how much people want to talk or just drink. I liked it this way and hope it was also beneficial for the participating winemakers.
Of course, a whole sack full of highlights remains as well. Without claiming to be complete and in the order of their appearance in these two articles, the highlights include wines from Milch, Achenbach, Eppelmann, Bischel, Sander, Lisa Bunn, Bernhard, Flick, Heiligenblut, and Zimmermann. Many of these names were unknown to me just a week ago. Every year, I am also driven by the question of why some labels still look so catastrophically awful. Yes, yes, the content is much more important than the cover, and it’s all a matter of taste. But if I don’t know A or B, I’ll go to where the prettier label is. And as I said before, many glasses were directly extended for a chic label. Even if there was Dornfelder in the bottle. It doesn’t have to be super flashy or artsy-fartsy, just not ugly. You know what I mean. What also remains is the fact that although I really like to drink natural wine, the “this is now our natural wine” wine almost never made me happy. Exceptions prove the rule, and if it sells and the winemaker makes money from it, then so be it. I don’t have to drink everything. Also, there are banks in Nierstein, at least two, and thus at least two more than in Brauneberg on our first bus wine tour at the Moselle. It’s nice here by the Rhine. Not like the Moselle, where you can turn around and every photo is filled with spectacular steep slopes. But the Roter Hang is a great piece of earth, and if you add a few more steps to the daily step budget, you get a fantastic view over the town, the Rhine, and the vines from above. The people are nice, the burger was good, we’ll be back.
