Rheingau producer Georg Breuer has been an established name for the Swedish wine market since a long time, and a very reliable source for dry German riesling in the top class. Theresa Breuer, that runs the company since many years, visited Sweden once more on the invitation of importer Vinunic to present a new vintage.
This time the tasting included the top wines from the 2015 vintage, and some entry wines from 2016. 2015 has already proved to be a great vintage for German riesling – on the dry and sweet side. What distinguishes the vintage is good maturation of the grapes and concentration in combination with good acidity levels. It provides balance and freshness with an appealing purity and elegance. Breuer’s wines did indeed confirm this statement.
Whoever likes Breuer’s wines or German riesling should invest in wines from 2015 while they can get a hold of them! This is especially true for those who like to drink their riesling after a couple of years. This vintage can withstand long ageing even though it is also charming when drank young.
Tasted wines – excellent dry riesling
Georg Breuer Riesling Sauvage 2016
12 euro
Youthful aromas of peach, flowers, ripe apple and some citrus. Dry taste with green apple, citrus, peach, good acidity in a very fresh style, good finish. At present it is young and fruity, the right weight for an entry level wine, 85 p.
Sauvage is Breuer’s dry entry level riesling. Theresa called 2016 a more difficult vintage than 2015, but this is an excellent wine for the entry level. The combination of some weight but at the same a lot of green apple reminded me of the style of the German 2011’s. We will see if that impression remains when I try more wines, because there have not been many 2016 out there yet.
Georg Breuer Terra Montosa 2015
22 euro
Aromas of ripe citrus along with citrus zest and other stone fruits, mineral and appealing “dull tones” indicating power and that is typical of many top Rieslings in the dry category. Taste of citrus, some green apple and peach, clearly good concentration, high acidity, minerality, long finish with citrus. Young, great potential, 91+ p.
Terra Montosa is Breuer’s “better middle class riesling” and consists of declassified grapes from their best vineyards, such as those from younger vines. Terra Montosa is usually a good buy, in peak years it is amazing, and 2015 is probably the best so far! The wine would not be ashamed if it was placed next to many Grosses Gewächs.
Georg Breuer Rüdesheim Berg Rottland 2015
38 euro
Scent of citrus, peach, yellow apple, clear minerality, hint of spice. Taste of citrus, green apple, good concentration, high acidity, mineral, vertical, light spicy tone, finish with citrus and green apple. Young, great potential, 92+ p.
Rottland is a more full-bodied wine than Terra Montosa and has the spiciest tone. Of the single vineyard wines, Rottland is the most available as young, and matures fastest.
Georg Breuer Rüdesheim Berg Schlossberg 2015
52 euro
Aroma with obvious citrus including, mineral, discreet floral and hints of honey. Taste with rich concentration, ripe citrus, some green apple, minerality in evidence, some astringency. Phenomenal wine, 95+ p.
For me, Schlossberg was the best wine of the tasting, and was clearly bigger than Rottland. The blogger on the other side of the table preferred Nonnenberg, so it is a question of taste. On the other hand, we agreed that both wines were phenomenal. Schlossberg, on the other hand, always needs a lot of time in the cellar to fully develop.
Georg Breuer Rauenthal Nonnenberg 2015
45 euro
Aromas with citrus, a little green apple, mineral, light floral. Taste with good concentration, fruity in flavor with light fruit tones, citrus and especially lemon juice, high acidity, mineral, fresh finish. Young, 94+ p
As a comparison, we also tried three older vintages of Nonnenberg: 2010 and 2007 from regular bottle and 1996 from a six-liter bottle. In my opinion, 2010 was still on the young side (it is a high acidity vintage that is capable of long ageing) and 2007 is now perfect when it comes to maturation. 1996 was wonderful and perfectly aged, but it could also have to do with the size of the bottle.
Two other wines: Rüdesheim Estate and Rüdesheim Berg Roseneck
It may be worth mentioning two wines that were not included in the tasting. At the level between Sauvage and Terra Montosa, Breuer produces two village designated wines, Rüdesheim Estate. If you find 2015 of that wine (in Sweden it is only sold in restaurants), just buy it! If you want an elegant and mineral riesling that has a little more character than Sauvage but is a little lighter than Terra Montosa.
The second wine is Rüdesheim Berg Roseneck, Breuer’s fourth vineyard denominated wine. Since the beginning of 2013, however, they have released Roseneck later than before, in order to release the wine with a little more ageing. None of the vintages 2013-2015 has been sold yet, and Breuer expects to sell Roseneck again in 2018. The idea for the moment is to sell the vintage that is the most complete one of those in the cellar.
Georg Breuer Auslese 2016
18 euro / half bottle
88 p
This Auslese from Breuer is a Rheingau wine, without vineyard designation. It is made with grapes picked for Sauvage. The clusters and parts of clusters affected by the noble rot are selected for this wine. The selection usually results in 50-60% grapes affected by noble rot while the rest are “healthy grapes”. It is a slightly lighter and fresher Auslese than their different “Auslese Gold Capsule” with vineyard designation. The year 2016 was, according to Theresa, a vintage where there was not much noble rot. The wine with its marked acidity was excellent with a rhubarb dessert.
Pinot noir – red and rosé
Georg Breuer Rosé Spätburgunder pinot noir 2016
13 euro
Relatively pale pink color. Properly balanced aroma with raspberry, some citrus and minerality. Dry but fruity flavor with raspberry, green apple, good acidity, some minerality and green apples in the after-taste. Nice, 84-85 p
Theresa told me that they look at this rose as on a sparkling blanc de noirs, even though it has no bubbles. This means that the grapes are picked early and the goal is that the wine should have a fresh and marked acidity.
Georg Breuer Rouge Spätburgunder 2015
20 euro
Classic pinot noir aroma with cherry, spicy tones, slightly vegetative along with a little soil and truffle, and discrete tones of barrels. In my opinion, a more burgundy style than typical German. Taste of cherries, good berry concentration, fresh acidity with discreet tones of green apples, spicy tone, some tannin, aftertaste with cherry and green apple. 87 p
The aroma testifies the great maturation of the grapes but at the same time, you feel the cool origin (compared with Burgundy) in the taste. Because the oak is restrained, the combination actually makes me think of a good Coteaux Champenois, a non-sparkling Champagne wine.
Tomas Eriksson is one of the contributors on BKWine Magazine. He is active in the wine tasting association AuZone in Stockholm and in Munskänkarna, where he sometimes holds wine courses. Tomas also runs a blog called Vintomas.
