Hochheimer Domdechenay, Künstler 2021

Gunther Künstler had big shoes to fill when he took over from his father Franz in 1992. Franz, whose family had owned vineyards in Moravia, Czechoslovakia for three centuries before expropriation and exile at the end of the Second World War, was an influential winemaker and one of Germany’s best of the post-war period. After more than a decade as winemaker at the famous Domdechant Werner estate he established his own vineyards and winery in 1965, the latter in the famous town of Hochheim-am-Main, where he proceeded to accumulate small parcels of vines on excellent sites, and very quickly established a superb reputation for the quality of his wines. Fortunately Gunther has been more than capable of meeting the challenge and many would argue that Künstler is the top estate in Hochheim. From their seven hectares of vineyards at eight sites around Hochheim they produce exhilarating dry and sweet wines from riesling, and have recently acquired four parcels further along the river at Rudesheim.

Winemaking is a marriage of the traditional and the modern, where technological support is readily used but does not overshadow the sensitivity of the winemaker, in this case Gunther, and all the years of experience he has under his belt. Ultimately Gunther makes no bones about wanting his wines to display poise and harmony, a sure sense of terroir and great potential for ageing. The riesling grapes are hand harvested and destalked before cooling, and then the musts are put into stainless steel or great old oak barrels, depending on the wine and the vintage, where they undergo cool and slow fermentations. When the fermentation is complete they are racked and then left on their fine lees for a while to gain texture as well as flavour. As well as riesling the estate produces chardonnay, sauvignon blanc and spätburgunder (pinot noir) wines.