Budbreak was early in 2011 (middle of April), flowering was early (end of May) and the three months between mid-June and mid-September were often warm but also choppy with partly heavy rainfalls and thunderstorms that lead to subtropical conditions in the vineyards. The second half of September introduced an Indian Summer in Rheinhessen. October had cool nights in its second half, and the 2011 Heerkretz Riesling GG clearly benefits from this. Picked in several passages between October 5 and 24, the wine opens with a clear and reduced nose with notes of silver-skin onions, intense and lush stone-fruit aromas and a hint of iodine. Full-bodied, intense and dense on the palate, this is a rich but vital and saline Riesling with a long, compact and seriously mineral finish. The residual sugar is quite prominent also in taste (5.5 grams per liter), but I'm happy it's lower nowadays, which makes the Heerkretz purer, leaner and more tensioned. It's a question of taste. 13% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted from magnum at the domaine in late August 2023.