ABOUT: Much is written of the German wine family Donnhoff and here is our attempt at a succinct paragraph. The Donnhoff family started a traditional farm in the village of Oberhausen an der Nahe in the mid-eighteenth century. In 1920 Hermann Donnhoff started the wine estate, then in the late 1960’s son Helmut took the reigns of the few bits (4 hectares) of stellar vineyards. In 1971 the farmland was sold off and Helmut began expanding the vineyard holdings and fine tuning the style of the wine. Since 2007 the estate has been run by son Cornelius who has further improved the wines and their now 25 hectares. In addition, Donnhoff joined Fair’n Green, a sustainable certification for German wine producers. The focus of Fair’n Green is sustainable vineyard and cellar management, protecting biodiversity, and fair wages for vineyard and cellar workers. It’s less a marketing tool than a certificate which genuinely promotes sustainability for the vineyards and the people involved.Click here for more information about Fair’n Green. TASTE: Another incredible single site Riesling from Donnhoff. This is what the Skurnik website has to say about Schlossbockelheimer Felsenberg…”is a steep vineyard with the very best steep parcels around the Felsenturmchen in the midst of the magnificent Schlossbockelheim Felsenberg site. The story is that this castle was built by an Italian Count for his German bride, on the spot on the hillside where the last rays of sun hit the mountain on the longest day of the year. Outstanding Riesling terroir with a soil of red volcanic igneous rock, a mélange of porphyry and melaphyr”. 2012 was a challenging year in the Nahe with a cold spell hitting at flowering but by the end of season all was forgiven and the wines are great. Aromas and flavors of smoke and salt, lemons, peaches, apples, pineapples and wisteria with high acidity, medium sweetness and a powerfully long finish. Easily developing for another twenty years.
PAIR:Fried polenta with parmesan cheese, egg salad sandwich, bagel with cream cheese, spicy Asian noodle salad, and smoked tofu bbq.
