Prinz 'Hallgarten Jungfer' Grosses Gewächs Riesling, Rheingau, Germany 2020

Prinz 'Hallgartener Jungfer' Grosses Gewächs Riesling, Rheingau, Germany 2020

This tiny home winery started out in 1991 as a little side venture for the former Staatsweingut sales manager. But Fred Prinz has emerged as Germany’s, or at least the Rheingau’s, premier “garage winemaker”. Due to their higher elevation and because they're set back from the river,  Fred's vineyards, specifically Jungfer & Schönhell, tend toward a finer more elegant style than one expects from typical Rheingau wines.

Winemaker:

Fred & Sabine Prinz

Varieties: Riesling

Farming: Organic certified

Terroir: Sloping towards the southeast to southwest, these vineyards enjoy the warmth of the midday sun. The high proportion of quartzite in the soil absorbs this heat during the day and releases it to the vines at night. This is also the decisive factor in the high minerality of the "Jungfer" and its great storage capacity. The grapes for this wine come from older plots with a reduced yield level and were harvested in mid-September to early October. They were golden yellow and ripe, some were overripe and very aromatic.

Vinification:

After the harvest, some of the grapes were left to macerate or pressed immediately. The slow fermentation of the must and maturation on the yeast took place in stainless steel and the classic wooden barrel.

Aging:

After bottling in April, the wine matured in the bottle until its first sale in September of the following year.