The Keller estate is located in the town of Flörsheim-Dalsheim, in the Rheinhessen wine growing region of Germany, west of the Rhine River and about an hour's drive heading southwest of Frankfurt. These vineyard sites possess limestone soils which give the unique fine minerality to Keller's dry Rieslings; this minerality is different from the minerality contributed by slate soils and is unique because the Riesling vineyards in the northern end of the Rheinhessen region are made up of predominantly red slate soils. As a result, this inimitable quality of fine minerality is what makes Klaus Peter's dry Rieslings some of the most unique dry Rieslings in the world. This wine’s name itself—Von der Fels—which literally translates to ‘of the rock,' references the vineyard's rocky terroir. Look at this photo of the the limestone found in these vineyard sites; the rock shaped like Nevada comes from the Kirchspiel Vineyard where most of these grapes are grown. It is no wonder that this wine can be found on the wine lists of many of the best restaurants across the globe. Consequently, it comes as no surprise that one of Klaus Peter's dry Rieslings, the 2009 G Max, fetched the highest price for any bottle of dry Riesling in the world—about $4000 for a 3 liter bottle.
Today we are offering the 2012 Riesling Von der Fels, which is made from a selection of younger vines sourced from Keller’s top single vineyard sites; the majority of the fruit comes from the Kirchspiel Vineyard, and there was an addition of two barrels of Abtserde and one barrel of Morstein (which are some of the most celebrated sites of all). The wine has a light straw yellow core moving to green and gold reflections on the rim. Aromatics of tropical fruit, such as green pineapple, green mango, orange rind and unripe yellow plum give way to notes of white mushroom, honeysuckle, white flowers, crushed stones, petrol and lime blossom. The heavy mineral quality on the nose is present on the palate alongside flavors of lime zest, green papaya and orange blossom. On the nose and palate, tasters will become familiar with the piercing mineral-driven quality of this dry Riesling and begin to pinpoint this characteristic as Klaus Peter's signature on his dry Rieslings. Please do not serve this wine too cold or much of its personality will remain hidden—50-60 degrees is ideal out of an all-purpose white glass.
