From the southeast-facing part of the vineyard, the 2021 Niederh?user Hermannsh?hle Riesling Sp?tlese is very clear, pure and flinty on the concentrated nose. Sweet, refined and very elegant on the palate, this is a weightless, saline and filigreed, playful Sp?tlese with great balance and delicacy. Not dramatic but quiet and in beautiful balance. 8% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted at the domaine in July 2022.

The 2020 Niederh?user Hermannsh?hle Riesling Sp?tlese is magic. Pure, refined and aristocratic on the flinty, slate-dominated and slightly herbal nose that is populated by crushed stones and tiny mint leaves, while the bright fruit is perfectly interwoven with terroir-driven flavors. Racy, juicy-piquant and intense on the palate, this is a noble, highly elegant and complex Hermannsh?hle with a long, intense and complex yet again very refined and floating finish. A genius of a Sp?tlese where everything is perfectly interwoven to an unspeakable beauty. "What is it that is so beautiful? That is the magic!," says Helmuth D?nnhoff, describing his philosophy of beauty. 8.5% alcohol. Tasted at the domain in July 2021.

After a performance like this for a Spatlese, the warning was hardly necessary! Donnhoff's 2009 Niederhauser Hermannshohle Riesling Spatlese offers a riot of herbal aromas reminiscent of but far more intense and diverse than that of the corresponding Grosses Gewachs, and here, too, accompanied by grapefruit and passion fruit in a manner that calls to mind Sauvignon. Horehound, licorice, sage, mint, black tea, nut oils, candied grapefruit rind, and crushed stone inform a silken-textured palate. As with the corresponding Brucke, there is a remarkable interactivity on display, and a depth of mineral and animal savor that goes beyond crustacean shell reduction or veal demi-glace, leaving me salivating helplessly. This should be worth following for 20-25 years. "In a great vintage with good weather this prolonged," remarks Helmut Donnhoff of 2009, only half in humor, "the only time limit to harvest is that set by the wild boar." And most of the excitement here this year - including the remarkable range of Spatlesen and the botrytis selections - was generated from a single week's picking in early November. "It's a year of the naked wine," adds Donnhoff, pointing to what he perceives as the stark portrayal of vineyard typicity that runs through his entire 2009 collection. His recent arrangement with the new Gut Hermannsberg (whose origins and inaugural vintage are canvassed elsewhere in this report) has taken Schlossbockelheimer Kupfergrube out of Helmut Donnhoff's line-up, while he has roughly doubled the surface area in the Hermannshohle under his control (to nearly 10 acres, or roughly half the Einzellage). The suggested retail prices I received from Donnhoff's importer represented significant price reductions vis-a-vis the last two years - and prices on the estate's private customer list have remained virtually unchanged for several years - adding yet another reason to seek them out. "I want to offer my customers good value," remarks Donnhoff with, in my view, considerable understatement, "and I'm proud of the fact that nobody in the trade who has bought from me has lost money reselling my wine."Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300