Dienheim Riesling 2019 – Weingut Rappenhof.

In this review we are discussing an Orts Wein, or Village wine, by Weingut Rappenhof from Rheinhessen. If you would like to learn more about this winery and their wines check out the other reviews we wrote and the interview with Elisabeth Muth from Weingut Rappenhof in our talk show Cellar Talks.

This dry Riesling is classified as Ortswein (village wine) in the VDP classification system and contains only grapes coming from vineyards owned by the family in the town of Dienheim. As Elisabeth explained us the nice thing about the idea about an Ortswein is that it is terroir or soil driven. Because of this you will experience the typical effect it has on the vineyards in that particular village.

When compared to Grand Cru or Grosses Gewächs wines (coming from single vineyards) this leads in this case to more complexity, because the Dienheim vineyards are built on two soil types; löss (clay) and limestone.

The Wine 

The löss gives the grapes and wine a nice fruity flavor and the limestone gives it strength and power. So, while the wine is fresh and fruity there is also a nice strength and backbone to the wine. The acidity is nicely managed and although this obviously is a young wine (it would certainly benefit from 5 or more years of cellar aging to fully further develop) the wine already gives away so many facets of what the vineyards have to offer (you could open up the wine about 30 mins before consumption or decant it to let it open up a bit more).

All in all, an excellent Riesling, which we thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend! The wine is nicely priced at around €15 online and available in several countries, as well as online via the link below. In the Netherlands ‘Time to Wine’ offers a wide selection of the Rappenhof wines as well. You can find them through this link.

Price:               ~ €15

Taste date:      January 2021

Score:              92/100 DWA Score

Website:         Weingut Rappenhof