Reichsrat von Buhl Forster Ungeheuer Riesling GG 2016 Pfalz《Terroir Collection - TG837》

Region : Pfalz - VDP.Grosses Gewächs

Grapes : 100% Riesling

Alcohol :  13% vol

Website: www.von-buhl.de/index.html

⭐️Biodynamics Wine

🏅James Suckling 94pts

🏅Vinous 91-92pts

The estate wasfounded back in 1849 by Franz Peter Buhl (1809-1862) and came about as part ofthe distribution of the original Jordan estate into the three smaller estatesGeheimer Rat Dr. von Bassermann-Jordan, Reichsrat von Buhl and Dr. Deinhard.Within few years, von Buhl was recognized for its uncompromising quality. 

FelixMendelssohn Bartholdy wrote to a friend after a visit to Reichsrat von Buhl:"But if you haven’t been to the Buhl estate, you don’t know what ForsterRiesling is". But it wasn't just on a national scale that von Buhl becamefamous. Von Buhl wines become some of the most expensive wines in the world andat the official opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, it was VON Buhl Rieslingwine in the glasses raised for the toast. German chancellor Otto von Bismarckhimself was a great lover of Buhl wines (his famous quote "DiesesUngeheuer schmeckt mir ungeheuer" this Ungeheuer tastes monstrously good,(Ungeheuer = monster) helped make the Forster Ungeheuer site world-famous).Reichsrat von Buhl has always owned the best plot in the 29 hectar grand cruvineyard Ungeheuer.

The first"Reichsrat" (member in the house of Lords in the kingdom of Bavaria)was Armand von Buhl who was given the honorable title for his achievements inthe German social legislation 1883-89. Armand married JulianeSchellhorn-Wallbillich, daughter of a very wealthy family in Forst, and had ason named Franz Eberhard Buhl (1867-1921). It was Franz Eberhard who united thewineries Reichsrat von Buhl and Schellhorn-Wallbillich to one of the biggestprivately owned wineries in Germany in 1909. At that time, the total propertyexpanded over 200 hectares of vineyards and forests. Franz Eberhard alsochanged the name of the winery from von Buhl to Reichsrat von Buhl by includinghis title. Apart from his achievements at Reichsrat von Buhl, Franz Eberhardwas founder and president of the German association of viticulture. After hisearly death in 1921, his wife Frieda Piper von Buhl ran the estate. She managednot only to maintain but actually increase the high quality that the estate wasknown for. When she passed away childless in 1952, the winery was inhereted toa political friend of Franz Eberhard, Georg Enoch Freiherr von und zu Guttenberg.

Over the years,the estate was continuously scaled down due to economic difficulties in itsoperation, until the entire property was left with only around 52 hectares ofland under vine, albeit including the best vineyard sites in Deidesheim andForst, such as Forster Kirchenstück, Pechstein, Jesuitengarten, Freundstück andthe Deidesheim sites Leinhöhle, Herrgottsacker, Kiesleberg and Paradiesgarten.From 1989 to 2013 the winery was leased to Japanese business man ToyohiroTokuoka. In 2005 the winery was sold by the von Guttenberg family to localbusiness man Achim Niederberger (1957-2013)  who knew back then, that hewould have to wait eight years before his team could run the estate. 

Beginning withvintage 2013, the new team around technical director Mathieu Kauffmann isresponsible for the estate. Since August 2019 Gregor Hofer und PeterHüftlein-Seeger have been managing directors of the winery, that ist certifiedorganic since 2009 and is an active ambassador of both natural, sustainableviticulture and of the best German wines.

The winery Reichsrat von Buhl is looking forward to a successful and exciting cooperation.

A tpyical GG from Forst wih mineral, spicy strength and a rounded finish.

The site Ungeheuer is one of the most distinctive and well-known vineyards of the palatinate. There powerful and long-lasting wines with a spicy minerality are produced. When Reich Chancellor Prince Otto von Bismarck visited Deidesheim at the end of the 1880s as a guest of the Vice President of the Reichstag, the owner of the winery Franz Armand Buhl, he said: „This Ungeheuer tastes monstrous to me. Von Buhl is the sole owner of the original plot Ungeheuer, which served as eponyms for the VDP.Große Lage. The lively acidity is harmoniously integrated by light earthy notes and discreet aromas of the wood barrels.

Soil:Complex, this is the best description of the soil structure in the much vaunted site in the Mittelhaardt: typical sandstone weathering soils with more dense clay and sand layers, partially offset with amounts of limestone. Basalt rock provides the vines with the necessary heat and mineral character. A massive limestone plate at a depth of approx. 2 m provides a very effi cient water supply. The sum of all factors is the reason for the power and length of the wines from the Ungeheuer.

🏅James Suckling 94pts

The acidity of this dry riesling is so mild (as a result of malolactic fermentation) that it ought to appeal to hardcore chardonnay drinkers, and there's an impressive balance of power, salty mineral character and delicate fruit aromas. Long, rather subtle finish. Drink or hold.

🏅Vinous 91-92pts

This was raised in a Franconian Doppelstuckfass (from which I last tasted it), which has left behind just a hint of oakresin that is easily integrated into intense site-typical scents and pungent, piquant palate impingement of sage androsemary, joined by smoky Latakia tobacco and evocations of apple, quince and lychee. The texture here is flatteringlyees-enriched, accompanied by an impressive sense of sheer stuffing without any sense of weight let alone alcohol. (Likemost of the dry von Buhl 2016s, Kauffmann estimated that this harbored somewhere between 12.5 and 13% alcohol,adding - hardly for the first time in our acquaintance with one another - I don't bother to look at analyses.) The longinish, absolute dryness notwithstanding, is unusually generous in fruit flavors for a Grosses Gewachs, but withoutstinting on herbal pungency or stony underpinnings