Wolfer Goldgrube Riesling Essenz
⏳ Drinking Window
2022 - 2070
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Seared foie gras with spiced quince compote, Roquefort or Stilton blue cheeses, tarte Tatin with salted caramel
✨ Technical Specifications
Wolfer Goldgrube Riesling Essenz represents an extreme concentration of noble rot, produced exclusively in exceptional years from hand-selected, shriveled botrytized berries grown on ungrafted, centenarian vines. Rooted in steep, south-facing amphitheaters of weathered Devonian blue and grey slate, the fruit yields minute quantities of hyper-concentrated nectar. Pressing is exceptionally slow, followed by prolonged, spontaneous native-yeast fermentation in neutral cellar vessels that can span months due to massive osmotic pressure from natural sugar levels. The finished wine is a rare, unctuous elixir characterized by stratospheric residual sugar countered by soaring natural acidity and pronounced slate salinity.
🍾 About the Producer
Founded in 2000 by the late Swiss visionary Daniel Vollenweider, Weingut Vollenweider played a pivotal role in revitalizing the forgotten, precipitously steep slopes of the Middle Mosel. Vollenweider began with just over one hectare in the historic Wolfer Goldgrube, salvaging centenarian, ungrafted Riesling vines trained in the traditional Mosel single-pole system. Following Vollenweider's passing in 2022, partner Moritz Hoffmann assumed leadership, maintaining heroic viticultural standards and securing certified organic status. Terroir here is dominated by weathered Devonian blue and grey slate forming a natural south-facing amphitheater overlooking the Mosel River. In the cellar, non-interventionist philosophies prevail: hand-harvested fruit undergoes spontaneous native-yeast fermentation in neutral oak casks and stainless steel, followed by extended lees aging. The estate's benchmark bottlings—such as the Wolfer Goldgrube Trocken, parcel selections like Unterste Jonpfad, and crystalline Prädikat expressions—are celebrated for their taut structural tension, electrifying natural acidity, deep mid-palate density, and profound slate salinity.
🍇 Grapes
Riesling
🍷 ABV
6% - 8%