Midweek VinopolPick 9-1-20

“It always feels somewhat miasmic to taste here, as though someone has strewn a thousand musical notes on the floor and now we have to pick them up and make them into music.” –Terry Theise

Kruger-Rumpf is a storied estate in the Nahe, the region in Germany that Donnhoff hails from, which lies between the Mosel and the Rhine rivers—sort of a halfway point between both geographic and stylistic.  Kruger-Rumpf sits close to the Rhine, geographically, than some of the other big names in the area and their wines have more intrinsic power to them as a result.  These are some seriously good Rieslings, at prices considerably lower than what you’d pay from other name producers.

The top wine from the estate comes from the awkwardly named “Dautenpflanzer” from near the town of Munster, which means that the label reads “Munsterer Dautenpflanzer”—a stereotype of a German name if we ever saw one.  In house, we often call it the “MD” if you aren’t feeling up to testing your pronunciation skills.  The Dautenpflanzer is a premier Grand Cru site of the lower Nahe, a place that yields wine s of power and resonance, and Kruger-Rumpf is the primary (and best) landholder.

These are fantastic wines that are only getting better with each subsequent vintage. Hope on board the 2018 train and you’ll be glad you did. We’re offering you Subscriber Special pricing on purchases of 6+ bottles of these German gems, arriving this Friday. Once the wines arrive, our special prices do, as well—so stock up and save!

Save 5% on any mix of 6-11 bottles of Kruger-Rumpf wines
10% on any mix of 12+ bottles of Kruger-Rumpf wines
Subscriber Special Discount Will Not Display Online
We Will Manually Adjust Your Order Before Finalizing It
Discount Valid Until Friday, September 4th at 10AM

Arriving Friday:

Kruger-Rumpf Abtei Riesling Trocken 2017 750ML ($34.95) $28 Displayed Price: that’s $26.60 at 5% off and $25.20 at 10% off!
David Schildknecht – Vinous 92 points “Apple wood, char-like smokiness, along with scents of lichen and moss make for an aromatic display every bit as striking but surprisingly different from that of the corresponding 2016. The palate is pithily-concentrated yet polished, and delivers plenty of juicy apple and fresh lime to complement those elements that carry-over from the nose. The finish lays down a long, stimulatingly undulating carpet of woodsy flavors, and a mouthwatering suffusion of mineral salts.”
Grapelive 92 points “The bright and precise Abtei Trocken shines with a delicate and generous nature. It shows a crystalline mineral-driven character and peachy fruits, vibrant crisp detail and a lingering charm in the glass. Very pale greenish gold in the glass and full of energy the 2017 Abtei bursts to life on the palate with that peach, key lime, green apple and tangerine fruits along with flinty wet stones, minty zest, citron/verbena and a saline mouthwatering note. This is a wine of refined form and dry extract, making for a Riesling that can be drunk young and one that should age nicely. I always appreciate the class and lacy style of Georg’s wines, especially in his drier wines. They are easy to love and have subtle power and underlying vigor, while his sweeter wines always show impeccable balance. This is a winery that doesn’t always get the credit it deserves and always gives exceptional value for the quality in the bottle. The Abtei Erstes Gewachs was all spontaneous fermentation (native yeast) fermented and aged in over 30 years old Stückfässern (German oak large cask) on the lees for close to 9 months before bottling, coming in at 12.5% natural alcohol. The vines here, all hand tended, are between 50 and 80 years old, which shows in this Riesling’s concentration and vitality. Ever since I walked this vineyard with Georg, in 2016, I have been a huge fan. Georg Rumpf’s latest set of wines are some of the best yet from this estate near the confluence of the Nahe and Rhein Rivers and the town of Bingen, which sits across the Rhein from the historic Rudesheim. The 2017 Abtei maybe the best kept secret in Rumpf’s portfolio. [It] comes from the closest parcel of vines to the winery, and a site that is extremely difficult to work, especially to their organic leaning practices. It always shows amazing energy and terroir elements that are similar to the famous Schlossberg Grand Cru on the other side of the Rhein as it shares the same soils and exposures. The Kruger-Rumpf estate is located in Münster-Sarmsheim, a small village (close to Bingen) on the western side of the Nahe River in the most northern section of this region. [It] has a bit more warmth than the southern middle zone of the Nahe, which gives the Kruger-Rumpf’s wines their concentration and sunny warmth.”

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!

Kruger-Rumpf Dorsheimer Burgberg Riesling Grosses Gewachs 2018 750ML ($59.95) $49 Displayed Price: that’s $46.55 at 5% off and $44.10 at 10% off!
Grapelive 94+ points “Coming from a tiny incredibly steep Grand Cru site, the Burgberg Vineyard, that is set on volcanic and quartz soils near Munster in the village of Dorsheim. The Kruger Rumpf Burgberg GG is one of the most exciting wines of vintage at this small winery… It is fantastically mineral-driven dry Riesling. This latest set of wines, especially the Rieslings, from Georg Rumpf and his family are some of the best yet from this estate. The GG’s and the Premier Cru Trockens are gorgeous wines. No one is going to want to miss these 2018 Nahe offerings, especially the Pitterberg GG, the Abtei Erste Lage 1937 old vine, one of my secret favorites and this beautifully detailed Burgberg GG. Rumpf has turned to mostly all organic practices, and the Burgberg parcel is farmed organic. [He] prefers to do natural fermentations, or Sponti, with his Cru wines with the GG’s getting less aging in large cask, Stuckfass, to allow less reduction and enhance generosity, while retraining freshness and vitality in the wines. [It] shows here in this barrel sample of Burgberg… These Kruger-Rumpf GG’s are some of the best values out there, they really deserve much more attention, as do the lesser bottlings and their wildly tasty Scheurebe, which is one of the best examples in Germany…Terry Theise, their importer, who considers Kruger-Rumpf one of best under the radar estates in the region. [Theise] notes that Kruger-Rumpf is innovative and is always striving to reach new levels of quality….the iron rich volcanic and quartz influenced 2018 Burgberg GG starts with white flowers, stone fruits and vibrant citrus before expansion on the medium full palate with layers of lime/tangerine, apricot, green apple, papaya, bitter pit white peach and white cherry fruits along with steely form, spearmint, verbena, mouthwatering saline, exotic spices and subtle leesy elements. This is going to be a legendary wine and is already showing Georg’s signature finesse and vinous personality. It has masses of potential and its delicacy is utterly delicious! There’s a lot to admire at Kruger-Rumpf these days and this crisp 2018 Burgberg is a stunning effort that gains with air in the glass and will more so with a few years in bottle.”
Wine Advocate 93+ points “From low-yielding vines planted in the 1950’s and 1960’s, the 2018 Burgberg Riesling GG is absolutely great on the pure, clear and refreshing, super flinty and mineral nose. On the palate, this is an intense, highly complex and elegant dry Riesling with crystalline acidity and a long and refreshing, crystalline and salty finish. Bottled and tasted in July 2019.”

This was the lowest listed price in the USA today,
Now it’s even lower!

Kruger-Rumpf Munsterer Pittersberg Riesling Grosses Gewachs 2018 750ML ($51.95) $46 Displayed Price: that’s $43.70 at 5% off and $41.40 at 10% off!
Wine Advocate 93+ points “The 2018 Im Pitterberg Riesling GG is bright and floral on the fragrant and elegant, spicy-mineral nose. Full-bodied and intense on the palate, with rich and concentrated fruit that is balanced by a tight and mineral structure and lingering salinity, this is an elegant, very complex and sustainable dry Riesling with crunchy stone flavors and a gripping finish. This is a great Nahe wine from the 2018 vintage. Tasted in July 2019.”
David Schildknecht-Vinous 92 points “Scents of white peach anticipate the cool juiciness as well as the peach fuzz invigoration and peach kernel piquancy that emerge on a firm palate. A bright influx of fresh lime lends animation and enhances refreshment on a finish that also features mouthwatering veal stock savor and vivid wet stone. (For background on the naming of this site and the origin of its fruit, consult my review of the corresponding 2015.)”
Terry Theise note “Here’s how it goes. I taste through all the GGs and try to glean where they each will go, and which are likely to be best. Then a year or two later I drink them in their finished form and see how wrong I was. Or was I wrong? I make the best guess I can, with 30-some years behind me, knowing how wines generally behave and how they might surprise you, and to feign certainty under those circumstances is a knave’s game. But what else can I trust? I’m not always wrong; sometimes I’m right! Maybe even often. Just know, please, that this is educated guesswork—but with that out of the way, this is what I found on the day…. Pitterberg has what the Germans call “Fond,” which connotes a sort of concentrated stock, more than broth and less than demi-glace. It has density, and it seems to have been born balanced.”

This was the lowest listed price in the USA today,
Now it’s even lower!

Kruger-Rumpf Munsterer Pittersberg Riesling Spatlese GK 2018 750ML ($49.95) $39 Displayed Price: that’s $37.05 at 5% off and $35.10 at 10% off!
David Schildknecht-Vinous 95 points “Picked at the end of October but with minimal botrytis, this certainly stands in magnificent contradiction to my vintage generalization that picking past the middle of that month was not advantageous. Unlike its counterpart form the Dautenpflänzer, this was raised in cask, and was allowed to ferment to a lower level of residual sugar. It comes off as a riper, richer sibling of the corresponding Im Pitterberg Riesling Kabinett, its gloss merging with creaminess, yet with fresh white peach and lime juiciness complementing ripe quince and serving for animation and refreshment. The finish is unexpectedly electrifying in its vibrancy and mouthwateringly saline, and gains stimulating counterpoint from peach kernel piquancy, peach fuzz prickle and a crystalline sense of stone-showering mineral impingement. (If there is a second, “regular” Im Pitterberg Spätlese from this vintage, I am not aware of it.)”

This was the lowest listed price in the USA today,
Now it’s even lower!

Kruger-Rumpf Munsterer Dautenpflanzer Riesling Spatlese 2018 750ML ($29.95) $24 Displayed Price: that’s $22.80 at 5% off and $21.60 at 10% off!
David Schildknecht-Vinous 92 points “An effusively fruity nose anticipates the generously juicy peach and nectarine that feature on a glossy palate, with a hint of almond paste as well as pronounced sweetness tugging things in a confectionary direction. Happily, an influx of limey brightness and tangy fresh-fruitedness serve for welcome pushback as well as animation and refreshment on a long-lasting finish. As with others of the best Kruger-Rumpf 2018s, this manages to combine richness and high ripeness with brightness and transparency to stony inflections. That juxtaposition may have been underscored in the case of this Spätlese by its having been raised partly in cask and partly in tank.”

This was the lowest listed price in the USA today,
Now it’s even lower!

Kruger-Rumpf Munsterer Im Pittersberg Riesling Kabinett 2018 750ml ($27.95) $21.90 Displayed Price: that’s $20.81 at 5% off and $19.71 at 10% off!
David Schildknecht-Vinous 93 points “While marginally lower in alcohol – at 9% – than its Rheinberg counterpart, this was picked early at a significantly lower 82 Oechsle, so its sense of sweetness is nicely restrained. Luscious and invigoratingly tart-edged white peach, apple and lime are wreathed in honeysuckle, while a billowing sense of levity and inner-mouth perfume perfectly complements a subtly creamy texture that owes something to lees exposure in cask. (In fact, Georg Rumpf performed a bit of lees stirring and an extra racking, yet the wine retains an invigorating hint of CO2 spritz.) The sustained finish delivers a superb sense of vibrancy, clarity and focus, its intense fruitiness matched by a salinity that tugs at the salivary glands. (For background on the origination and style of this Kabinett, consult my reviews of its vintage 2015 and vintage 2016 predecessors.)”
Wine Advocate 91 points “Picked early around September 10th and vinified in large oak until April this year, the 2018 Im Pitterberg Riesling Kabinett offers a clear, ripe and spicy, beautifully elegant bouquet of bright fruits and crushed nuts. Very clear and fresh on the palate, this is a filigreed, elegant and persistently light, salty-piquant and crystalline Riesling with mineral tension and stimulating grip. This is a picture-book Kabinett that is a great pleasure to drink even today and certainly with food. 9% alcohol. Tasted from AP 21 19 in August 2019.”
Terry Theise note “Another forward-into-the-past bottling—in this case Georg wanted to make the kind of Kabinett his father made in the 80s, decidedly on the dry side, not very ripe (this has just 82º Oechsle), gentle and tertiary, and even on the dry side it shows Cox’s orange pippins and balsam and its genial Buddhist repose. Cask fermentations help to highlight the tertiary flavors.”

This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!

Kruger-Rumpf Munsterer Rheinberg Riesling Kabinett 2018 750ML ($21.95) $18 Displayed Price: that’s $17.10 at 5% off and $16.20 at 10% off!
Wine Advocate 89 points “From a southeast-facing vineyard, picked at 83/84° Oechsle around the 20th of September and vinified in stainless steel and large oak in equal parts, the 2018 Münster Rheinberg Riesling Kabinett is beautifully clear, fresh and stony/piquant on the precise, stimulating, slightly nutty and coffee-bean nose. Round, lush and sweet on the first palate, this is a fresh, salty-piquant and elegant Kabinett with stimulating grip on the finish. This is a beautifully lean, light and digestible Kabinett in the good old style. Tasted in July 2019.”
Terry Theise note “Our basic and faithful friend, this perennial and tasty Kabinett from the steep quartzite vineyard, and this ’18 is sleek and rippling and snappy and racy.”