Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyard Hermann J. Wiemer HJW Vineyard Riesling 2023 750ml

Very sleek, but graceful, with lovely delicacy. Lemon and lime-zest freshness, as well as nice apricot fruit and delicate floral notes. Long, filigree finish with moderate acidity in the 2021 context. Drink or hold. (Stuart Pigott)

An alluring white, with hints of Thai basil, verbena and jasmine leading the way for a pure core of Jonagold apple and white peach. Offers a pretty, glistening finish. Drink now through 2029. 500 cases made. (James Molesworth)

Explodes from the glass with lime zest, tangerine peel, white pepper and a subtle undercurrent of floral notes. Tart and energetic it has a nervous energy that feels almost electric. The finish pulls up just a hair short, likely due to the early picking necessary to maintain the acidity in this warm vintage. the 2022 has 7grams of residual sugar per liter, only perceptible in a slight roundness in the finish.

The 2021 Riesling HJW Vineyard comes in with six grams of residual sugar and 12.4% alcohol. A small (12%) part of the juice was aged for seven months in new, large-format Austrian foudres (2,000 liters). This was sourced from HJW vines planted in 1977 and 1978. It is the only one of the single vineyards bottled in this rainy vintage where the others were declassified. I expected that this would show well since it was the only one here of the typical single-vineyard wines from older vines. It will not be a monument to greatness in the winery’s long history, but it is very good and hardly a slacker. Moderately expressive and mostly open, even in its youth, it has a fresh feel and a friendly finish. It’s not particularly intense, but it lingers nicely and tastes great in a relatively dry-but-not-lean presentation. With aeration, the structure comes out to play and proves that this does also have some support for the fruit. It will age relatively well.