“The 2018 Riesling Fürfeld Melaphyr (the 2017 was not produced due to dramatic frost losses) is from the coldest vineyard in Daniel Wagner’s portfolio. From vines planted in 2009 by Wagner, the 2018 offers a fascinating, pure and finely flinty bouquet with notes of crushed stones, black currant and wild herbs or flowers and red and black currant. Very complex and stimulating. Round and intense on the piquant and complex palate, this is Riesling on GG level: very intense and tight yet refined, with fine tannins and great purity. A fascinating Riesling. Highly recommended. Tasted at the domaine in March 2020.” 93 point Wine Advocate
White peach, white currant and lime on the nose turn delightfully juicy and invigorating on a full but firm and by no means heavy palate, where suggestions of peach fuzz, currant seed and lime zest are prominent. Oregano adds a pungent yet appealingly cooling note. The succulently fruity, mouthwateringly salt-tinged and refreshing finish features an intriguing ore-like undertone as well as a fascinating interaction of the aforementioned fruit elements with alkaline and crystalline stony impingements. Benefit from this wine’s astounding price/quality rapport while you can, because surely at some point Wagner and the VDP are going to elevate it to Grosses Gewächs status. (For a further account of Wagner’s Fürfeld vineyards in the diminutive Eichelberg Einzellage, a rare outcropping of melaphyre in Rheinhessen, consult my review of the corresponding 2014.) 93 point Vinous
