Know your étiquette! Nahe Riesling Spätlese

We’re striking while the iron’s here at Vininspo!—or, at least, while the Spätlese thirst is raging. As a follow-up to our session on Dr Loosen’s Riesling from the Mosel Valley, here we visit a lesser-known region: The Nahe.

The area is named for the quiet river that snakes into the Rhine towards the western extremity of the Rheingau region. The Nahe vineyard is less than half the size of the more famous Mosel and, just as tellingly, has far fewer names that are familiar in export markets.

About three-quarters of production here is white wine, much of it grown on the slopes by the river. Some of it is cool, light and slaty in a manner that calls to mind the Mosel, but there are also pockets of volcanic soils and limestone, so perhaps the wines are a little harder to characterise.

What is certain is that some wonderful bottles hail from this place, which has some magical vineyards. Perhaps the most famous name is Dönnhoff, whose peerless reputation was burnished by the brilliance of Helmut Dönnhoff. He has since passed primary responsibility onto his son, Cornelius, who for many years has maintained the style and outstanding quality of these wines.

The Nahe, and this estate, is especially known for aromatic Riesling that is fine and flowing with tight citrus notes, but which perhaps tends towards a riper-feeling stone-fruit spectrum than the Mosel. The valley is still cool, though, with harvest dates for the Dönnhoff family often coinciding with those of the Saar.

To further build our confidence with these at-first intimidating labels, follow me to find out more from Dönnhoff’s Riesling Spätlese from the Kirschheck vineyard in the village of Norheim.