Hochheimer Kirchenstuck Riesling TBA
⏳ wine.drinking_window
Typically best enjoyed 15 to 50+ years from vintage release, with the potential to age gracefully for up to a century.
🍽️ wine.food_pairings
Blue cheese, foie gras, fruit-based desserts
✨ wine.spec_sheet
Hailing from the legendary Hochheimer Kirchenstück—the 'church plot' nestled around the historic church of St. Peter and Paul—this Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA) represents the pinnacle of Rheingau noble sweet winemaking. The vineyard's proximity to the Main river creates a unique microclimate where autumn morning mists encourage the development of Botrytis cinerea, or noble rot. Weingut Künstler hand-harvests these shriveled, honeyed berries individually in multiple meticulous passes through the vineyard. The resulting wine is a nectar of extraordinary concentration, where intense, luscious sweetness is perfectly counterbalanced by the vibrant, mineral-driven acidity characteristic of Hochheim's deep clay-loess and calcareous soils.
🍾 wine.about_producer
Re-established in 1965 by Franz Künstler in Hochheim am Main, Weingut Künstler carries forward a family winemaking heritage dating back to 1648 in Moravia. Today, under the stewardship of Gunter Künstler, who took over in 1992, the estate has risen to become one of the Rheingau's most celebrated producers and a prominent member of the VDP. The winery is renowned for its meticulous management of legendary Erste and Grosse Lage vineyards, such as Hochheimer Hölle and Kirchenstück. Utilizing traditional large oak casks alongside modern stainless steel, Künstler crafts exceptionally precise, mineral-driven Rieslings and elegant Spätburgunders that beautifully express the unique clay-loess and limestone terroirs near the Main river.