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Our final day in the Germany expedition began with a private wine-tasting experience in the well-appointed Weingut Kühling-Gillot and Battenfeld Spanier tasting room located in the Rheinhessen region. The marriage between Carolin and H.O. merged two wineries under one roof. According to our host, Ann-Katrin, Carolin has been at the helm of her family’s estate, Weingut Kühling-Gillot, since 2006, while H.O. founded Battenfeld Spanier in 1991 upon completion of his winemaking training. The wine brands source their grapes from entirely different geographic areas and terroirs, leading to highly diverse expressions of the wines produced. During our experience at the tasting room’s bar, Ann-Katrin, brought the differences and similarities between these two wine producers to life by leveraging side-by-side wine comparisons throughout our tasting.
My favorite wine from the lineup was the 2016 Nierstein Riesling. Quality Riesling has the ability to age gracefully because of the wine's aromatic intensity and acidity structure. I am always excited to sample an older Riesling wine. During the ageing process, the wine's color generally shifts from pale or medium lemon to a deeper gold, eventually reaching amber later in its lifecycle. Aromas and flavors transform from the primary aromas of apples and pears into tertiary aromas and flavors due to the wine's age, including dried fruit, petrol or gasoline, and nutty flavors. For a wine to adequately develop this complex aroma and flavor structure, it's essential to have pronounced intensity levels of aromas and flavors in its youth to ensure these characteristics do not completely disappear over time in the bottle.
Ann-Katrin poured the 2016 and the 2021 Nierstein Riesling side-by-side to understand how this wine changes with time. Just as we thought, the 2021 showed pronounced intensity of yellow apple, pear, and vanilla and cedar characteristics from the winemaker's oak ageing regimen. The 2016 retained the pronounced aromatic and flavor intensity levels, but the elements shifted to petrol, almonds, and walnuts, with hints of pears combined with less pronounced characters from the oak. We found that the cedar and vanilla aromas integrated with the other aromas through time. Both wines showed the same high acidity level and medium to full body, combined with a long finish on the palate. We greatly appreciated this opportunity to taste these two wines alongside one another!
Please check out the YouTube video of our experience here.
Experience Rating: 3 Stars
Brodi’s Rating: 1 Paw Up
Pet-Friendly: Yes
Experience Vibe: Private Experience, Standing Bar Tasting
Reservations Needed: Yes
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