Robert Parker

Die größte und schönste Bestätigung, die wir für unser Tun bekommen können, sind glückliche und zufriedene Kunden. Menschen, Sympathisanten denen unser Wein schmeckt, die zu uns stehen und denen das, was wir tun, gefällt.

 

Wir haben noch nie Wein für Kritiker und Journalisten gemacht. Wir machen Wein, der uns schmeckt. Wir lieben und stehen zu unserem Produkt. Natürlich freuen wir uns über jede Art von Kritik und stellen uns dieser auch immer gerne. Wir sind vor einigen Jahren angetreten und haben alles auf den Kopf gestellt, verändert und dabei jeden Stein umgedreht. Insofern sind wir natürlich auch auf Kritik angewiesen. Sie ist Gradmesser und Inspiration zugleich.

 

Es gibt zahlreiche Publikationen, die sich der Weinkritik verschrieben haben. Die weltweit wichtigste und einflussreichste ist Robert Parkers "Wine Advocate".

 

Der für Deutschland zuständige Redakteur Stephan Reinhardt hat aktuell die großen trockenen Rieslinge aus dem Jahrgang 2013 verkostet. Unser 2013 Rüdesheim Berg Schlossberg Großes Gewächs gehört mit 92-94 Punkten zu den herausragenden Weinen und unser 2013 RESSpekt mit 95 Punkten sogar zu einem der besten Vertreter des Jahrgangs überhaupt.

 

Ja, wir freuen uns! Und ja, wir sind unglaublich stolz. 95 "Parker Punkte" für einen trockenen Wein sind eine echte Hausnummer! Dass wir uns das nicht einbilden, sehen wir an den enormen internationalen Reaktionen die uns seit dem Bekanntwerden dieser Bewertung erreichen. Für uns ist das eine Bestätigung unseres Weges. Der Rheingau ist im Aufbruch und wir sind Teil dieses Aufbruchs.

 

Im Text zu den Weinen schreibt Reinhardt: "They surely enrich (and maybe also initiated) the new move in the Rheingau which had been the most less interesting German wine region for so many years. As far as the Ress (and many other new) wines are debated they are worth to be bottled and - at least - tasted. There is something going on in the Rheingau, Ress sei Dank!

 

Für uns ist das ein echter Meilenstein! Danke!

 

 

2013 Balthasar Ress Riesling trocken RESSpekt: 95 Punkte

 

"The 2013 Riesling trocken Resspekt (a wordplay with the name Ress and the word respect) is the only wine under cork from this estate. Unfortunately the cork is sealed with a thick wax closure which is extremely difficult and time-consuming to remove. As soon as this is done you discover a golden-colored Riesling of great intensity, depth and purity on the nose. This is a enormously rich, concentrated, piquant and tension-filled yet also an elegant and well balanced Riesling of great length with dried fruit aromas in the long aftertaste. Bone dry and full-bodied, this great and particular Riesling is characterized by its botrytisized and ultra ripe fruit flavors. Although it's not my style of Riesling I would be happy to have a glass of it at east every single year."

 

 

2013 Balthasar Ress Rüdesheim Berg Schlossberg Riesling trocken GG: 92-94 Punkte

 

"The citrus colored 2013 Rudesheim Berg Schlossberg Riesling trocken GG shows an impressively deep, pure, dense and complex bouquet of crushed rocks, quartz, limes, citrus oil, orange peel and white peaches but also some irritating malo flavors (cream, Sauerkraut). Full-bodied, this is a pure and salty Riesling showing complexity and a persistent salinity. It combines power with purity and elegance with a frisky minerality which makes this a stimulating, well balanced wine to one of the most finest dry Rheingau Rieslings of the vintage. No leave-me attitude here (except the malo). This is a 'could buy' instead."

 

 

2013 Balthasar Ress Hattenheim Nussbrunnen Riesling trocken GG: 90 Punkte

 

"The intense yellow 2013 Hattenheim Nussbrunnen Riesling trocken GG seems to be untamed and austere but nevertheless offers pure and very clear and spicy Riesling flavors over a dusty layer of crushed stones. The bouquet is so unusually pure (if not poor) for 2013 as if there was no single botrytis berry in the strictly selective pickings. This wine is still extremely young (if not raw) and appears as a medium-bodied, mercilessly dry and pure Riesling with lime and gooseberry aromas along with a firm structure and a linear flow over the palate. This wine does not offer anything for those of you who prefer to have at least a few grams of meat on the bones of your wine. This Nussbrunnen remains heartless though the deep loess soils and the topography of the well protected Nussbrunnen could have also given a more charming and juicy wine perhaps. I am not sure if this is a great wine, however, it is a true, enjoyable and fascinating reflection of an extremely difficult vintage and its interpretation."

 

 

2013 Balthasar Ress Rüdesheim Berg Rottland Riesling trocken GG: 89 Punkte

 

"The 2013 Rudesheim Berg Rottland Riesling trocken GG is quite yeasty and imprecise on the nose and displays volatile acidity too. The wine is fairly lost before it attacks the mouth where it is pure and piquant and far better than on the nose. This is a pure and almost naked wine with grip and minerality, quite ascetic and drying in the finish but it gains my sympathy due its true and non-manipulated style in the end."

 

 

2013 Balthasar Ress Hattenheim Wisselbrunnen Riesling trocken GG: 88+ Punkte

 

"No, you can't drink the 2013 Hattenheim Wisselbrunnen Riesling trocken GG better than it really is. "This wine needs a lot of aeration," winemaker Dirk Würtz told me when we discussed my first findings ("burnt milk, caramel and fungal on the nose, quite poor and meager on the austere palate, bitter and drying in the finish"). "Give it a couple of days," he advised me and so I did. I consulted the opened bottle again and again over a period of nine days (although I am sure - and do understand - none of my readers would have the nerve and the patience to do so as well). The wine remained a mystery though. The nose did not change even a little bit and the palate remained austere. The most positive thing about this naked, skeletal wine is its persistent tension, thrill and its austere, mineral character on the finish which is quite apparent and still somewhat drying. So if you don't pour a sip of Beerenauslese in it I fear you have to live with its ascetic character."

 

 

2013 Balthasar Ress Rudesheim Berg Schlossberg Riesling Auslese: 93 Punkte

 

"The pale lime green 2013 Rüdesheim Berg Schlossberg Riesling Auslese starts with a very delicate, sophisticated and multi-layered bouquet with flinty, dusty slate aromas of the finest, extremely well-selected Riesling berries. Both sweet and piquant on the palate, this is a thrilling Auslese full of joy and piquancy. It is fascinating, juicy and sensual and, like the Doosberg Auslese, extremely food-friendly and stimulating. Drink it now or in 10 years and enjoy. A lovely wine."

 

 

2013 Balthasar Ress Oestrich Doosberg Riesling Auslese: 92 Punkte

 

"The pale citrus colored 2013 Oestrich Doosberg Riesling Auslese has a clear, cool and delicate bouquet that reflects the characteristic quartzite soil of the Doosberg along with some herbal notes, ripe apples, white stone fruits and some drops of lime juice. A lovely nervous acidity and saltiness drives the wine over the palate and lends the full-flavored wine a lovely piquant and salivating finish. This is an extremely drinkable Auslese which ended up with food-friendly 10% of alcohol and, thus, is bottled in a normal 0.75-liter bottle."

 

 

2013 Balthasar Ress Rudesheim Berg Rottland Riesling Feinherb: 91 Punkte

 

"The pale green, off-dry 2013 Rudesheim Berg Rottland Riesling feinherb starts somewhat discreetly on the nose and with some hints of (very) hot milk, toffee and brioche along with ripe and shortly stewed apples with a dash of lemon juice and a whiff of crushed stones. Full-bodied and very gentle on the full-flavored, almost creamy-textured palate, the wine is driven by a delicately salty piquancy that gives it a very good finish. This is, finally, an elegant mouthful of lovely Riesling which ended up at 11.5% of alcohol."