WTN: Wittmann Kirchspiel Riesling

I’m sure plenty of folks would prefer to age these longer. And I should probably get around to doing that myself. But I need something to drink in the meantime and these were plenty delicious.

2018 Wittmann Kirchspiel Riesling GG
Needs a bit of air and then the pale lemon Riesling flavors are joined by a big broad palate with thick rich saturated minerally texture. It doesn’t feel like it’s in the perfect zone and I’m not rushing to open more now. But it was delicious, was great with dinner, and it made me happy.

2019 Wittmann Kirchspiel Riesling GG
More linear and less broad/powerful than the 2018. But there is still great depth and drive and the pale lemon Riesling flavors are so exquisitely piercing and persistent with elegant crystalline texture and fragrance that reverberates nicely in the palate. This is one of the few wines (for my palate) that is even better and more gorgeous on the second day. I would drink and hold.

Nice..never seen Wittmann in my area.

Kirchspiel 2016 is closer to being in the zone, and very much my kind of wine. As with the younger vintages, lovely bright piercing fruit with firm depth and length. The texture is a bit more evolved, so elegant, so aromatic, great tension and snap but still plenty of chiseled flesh. A lovely combination of balanced components that will surely keep aging and evolving. But for thirsty mouths like mine, very delicious now.

[David M. Bueker]

Sounds great. I wish we were back in the days when almost nobody cared about Wittmann. I used to buy a lot, and am down to 5 or 6 bottles from older vintages. Current pricing is wild!

Sounds great. I wish we were back in the days when almost nobody cared about Wittmann. I used to buy a lot, and am down to 5 or 6 bottles from older vintages. Current pricing is wild!

I don't even look for Wittmann in the US, but I also haven't seen it advertised much either! Probably easier to buy in Germany, where you can also buy direct from the estate if local retailers are empty.

All of these Kirchspiel vintages were roughly 50 euros (55-60 USD), as is the 2020, which I consider a fair price for this quality. Morstein and Brunnenhauschen are 60 euros, which doesn't strike me as unreasonable. But I'm probably less ready to pay US prices.

[David M. Bueker]

Last time I saw Brunnenhauschen for sale (2019) it was $130.