One of Germany’s most renowned producers, Cornelius Dönnhoff extracts the raw terroir of each unique vineyard and bottles monstrous, nerve-rattling dry Rieslings dripping with colossal power. Each bottle delivers titanic-sized explosions of flavor and minerality and this 2022 Felsenberg, a prized site built from ancient volcanic rock, has all the critics chattering—Suckling, Vinous, Decanter Magazine, Parker’s Wine Advocate. No matter who you follow, even if it’s just us, the main takeaway is this: This is the pinnacle of dry German wine. The world has become enraptured by these texturally rich, explosively mineral gems, and Dönnhoff’s releases consistently compete at the uppermost level of wine, as evidenced by today’s bottle which can be enjoyed now with a long decant, but ideally will rest in a cool cellar for many years.
Some 250 years ago, the Dönnhoff family arrived in the Nahe and established a farm where they tended livestock, vegetables, and grapes. Hermann Dönnhoff (grandfather of Helmut) officially launched the estate in the 1920s, and Helmut took the reins in 1966. At this time, they only had four hectares of vines—but after their extraneous farmland was sold off in 1971, Helmut began focusing on wine. With more than 45 vintages under his belt, Helmut, and now his son, Cornelius, have created something grand out of nothing. The Dönnhoff clan made a fortuitous decision when they chose the Nahe, this region encompasses the hills that surround that eponymous river, and its soils are very diverse. Thanks to these varied and distinct terroirs, it has some of Germany’s best Grosses Gewächs.
“Felsenberg,” is one of those GG (essentially Grand Cru) vineyards, and it’s a breathtaking slice of land with a small tower clinging to its steep precipice (as depicted on today’s front label). The site sits at 11 hectares with steep gradients and southern exposure, and each vine is buried in a series of volcanic soil. “Felsenberg” is an elite, and historic, GG vineyard. Grosses Gewächs wine must be from a designated Grosse Lage (Grand Cru) vineyard and fermented dry, although ripeness level, yield restriction, and manual harvest also play an important factor. After a strict selection process and hand-harvesting their Riesling, the grapes fermented in a combination of stainless steel and 1200 liter German oak barrels and then matured until the middle of 2023. After further bottle aging, the wines left Dönnhoff’s cellar and arrived on our shores in the spring of 2024.
Dönnhoff’s GG’s are all built for the cellar. That said, give Felsenberg a good, long decant and it shows incredible layers despite its infancy: Kaffir lime, green mango, white peach, pineapple, Meyer lemon, and tangerine blast out of the glass like a cannon and release savory shrapnel in the form of crushed white rock, smoke, candied ginger, salted citrus, gunflint, dried herbs, acacia, grapefruit zest, and honeysuckle. It’s bold and assertive, unafraid to flaunt its searing minerality and gorgeous layers of ripe, nervy fruit. Served in your best all-purpose stems at a cool 50 degrees, this soaring, bone dry bottle of mineral magic can easily go toe to toe with Grand Cru white Burgundy, or any other of the world’s finest white wines. Of course these GG’s are very limited, so don’t hesitate to grab enough to try a bottle soon and then let the rest sleep in your cellar.
