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Johannisberg Castle and the SpätlesereiterImage: Deutsches Weininstitut
Johannisberg Castle and the Spätlesereiter. The story of the Spätlesereiter goes back to an 18th century legend. At that time, Johannisberg Castle in the Rheingau was still owned by the High Chapter of Fulda. In 1775, shortly before the grape harvest, the Johannisberg monks sent a mounted messenger to the prince abbot in Fulda to obtain permission from him to start the harvest. The messenger was late, and when he finally returned, the grapes had long since been attacked by noble rot (botrytis). The monks discovered that the wine from these grapes was particularly sweet and tasted excellent. The Spätlese was born. However, the story is not historically proven at all, and the wines were rather Auslesen, Beeren- and Trockenbeerenauslesen according to today's understanding. What is certain, however, is which grape variety it must have been. The vineyards of Schloss Johannisberg have been planted exclusively with Riesling since 1720.

Our Latest Ratings

WinewhitedrySauvignon Blanc

2023 Sulzfeld Sauvignon Blanc Qualitätswein trocken

VDP.ORTSWEIN ®

Zehnthof – Theo Luckert, Sulzfeld am Main

Germany

Franken • Geschützte Ursprungsbezeichnung (g. U.)

Amtliche Prüfungsnummer 4050 14 24 • 13 % vol alcohol

16.5🯅

Tasted on 22 May 2026 by Werner Elflein

16🯅

Tasted on 22 May 2026 by Julia Elflein

16.5🯅🕓

Tasted on 13 July 2024 by Werner Elflein

Light lemon yellow colour. Distinguished, subtle fragrance with fine, floral aromas reminiscent of an elegant Sancerre, not overly characterised by pyrazines. Pronounced chalky minerality. Lively acidity. Exceptionally complex and with excellent structure. Very good length and depth.

WinereddryBlauer Spätburgunder

2013 Klingenberg Spätburgunder R Qualitätswein trocken

VDP.ORTSWEIN ®

Steintal, Klingenberg am Main

Germany

Franken • Geschützte Ursprungsbezeichnung (g. U.)

Amtliche Prüfungsnummer 1000 17 15 • 13.5 % vol alcohol • bottled under the name Stadt Klingenberg – Benedikt Baltes

16.5🯅

Tasted on 21 May 2026 by Werner Elflein

A 13-year-old German Pinot Noir that has now matured and is still in excellent condition. Dark brick red. Ripe Pinot fruit with subtle hints of light berries and aromas of forest floor and mushrooms. Fine, elegant tannins. Although it is in the final phase of its life, it still has power. Expressive and complex. Excellent length. As expected, however, it fades slightly with exposure to air.

16.5🯅

Tasted on 21 May 2026 by Julia Elflein

WinewhitesweetWeißer Riesling

2025 Lieser Niederberg-Helden Riesling Spätlese

Thanisch, Lieser

Germany

Mosel • Geschützte Ursprungsbezeichnung (g. U.)

Amtliche Prüfungsnummer 2589227 13 26 • 8.5 % vol alcohol

16.5🯅🕓

Tasted on 14 May 2026 by Werner Elflein

WinewhitedryWeißer Riesling

2025 “1648” Riesling Qualitätswein trocken

Thanisch, Lieser

Germany

Mosel • Geschützte Ursprungsbezeichnung (g. U.)

Amtliche Prüfungsnummer 2589227 10 26 • 12 % vol alcohol

14.5🯅🕓

Tasted on 14 May 2026 by Werner Elflein

WinewhitesweetWeißer Riesling

2025 Lieser Niederberg-Helden Riesling Auslese

Thanisch, Lieser

Germany

Mosel • Geschützte Ursprungsbezeichnung (g. U.)

Amtliche Prüfungsnummer 2589227 14 26 • 7.5 % vol alcohol

18.5🯅🕓

Tasted on 14 May 2026 by Werner Elflein

Symbols
🯅The rating of the wine is based on a single taster. The taster is named in the context of the rating. The tasting was either open or blind. In case of a blind tasting, it is explicitly labelled as such.
🯅🯅The rating of the wine is based on two tasters. The tasters are named in the context of the rating. The tasting was carried out according to the four-eyes principle, in which both tasters agree on a joint rating.
🯅🯅🯅The rating is based on a tasting by our jury and indicates the Mean value calculated by us from the individual ratings of the tasters. Our mean value is based on the median.
⚖The wine was evaluated in a blind tasting. We have strict rules for blind tastings. The tasters do not receive any information that would allow them to identify the wines. The tasters are only given access to further information that goes beyond the subject matter if it is absolutely necessary for understanding the wines.
🕓We only had limited time to taste the wine  - typically during an open tasting event, such as a wine fair. It was therefore not possible to observe the development of the wine in the glass over a longer period of time. The informative value of our rating may therefore be limited under certain circumstances.
⛬The wine was tasted as a barrel sample or before an official test number (Amtliche Prüfungsnummer or Staatliche Prüfnummer) was issued. We only accept samples of unfilled wines in exceptional cases, and then only if we can assume sufficient stability in the bottle for a period of at least three months.
▲During our tasting, the wine showed conspicuous sensory characteristics. This does not necessarily have to be a wine fault. We categorise the quality and quantity of the abnormality and include it in the rating. Wine faults such as cork taint or an atypical ageing generally lead to a complete rejection.
Tastings that refer to the same bottle of a wine are visually summarised by a dotted line.

Our Latest Posts

Satire

Wellness for the Vineyards

Massage Techniques for Vines are Revolutionising Viticulture
Image: weinfreaks.de
In spring, even before the vines begin to bud, the first seasonal workers are already busy tending the vines in the Saar vineyards. At the famous Scharzhofberg, the focus is not on pruning or tilling the soil. Instead, you see the workers bent over the vines, massaging the wood with their hands just a few centimetres above the root zone.
Facts

The Rescue of Moselle Apollo and Steep-Slope Viticulture

Melanargia and Deutsche Umwelthilfe Have Lost at the Court, Rescue Measures for the Moselle Apollo are Effective
Image: Detlef Mader
At the end of 2023, we reported for the first time on the serious threat to the Moselle Apollo butterfly. In April 2025, a report was published on the feared imminent extinction of the unique knight butterfly and the absurd lawsuit brought by the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Melanargia – Rheinisch-Westfälischer Lepidopterologen (AGL) and the Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) for a ban on helicopter spraying in steep-slope viticulture on the Moselle, which has since been rejected by the administrative courts in four rulings. Therefore, there are now renewed hope.
Facts

When Wine Disappears

On the Erosion of a Culture of Enjoyment
Image: Pixabay
Wine is more than just a matter of taste or fashion. It is a structural element of everyday life and has long been embedded in social rituals and cultural habits. In the post-war period, especially from the 1950s onwards, wine became a symbol of stability, routine and prosperity. The integration of wine into everyday life was not a luxury phenomenon, but rather an expression of the social and economic conditions of the time, which were characterised by predictable career paths, stable incomes and clear social milieus.
Comment

Dry January

Moral Imperative or Cultureless Dogmatism?
Image: Pixabay
At the beginning of each year, the collective abstinence parade known as Dry January begins anew. A whole month without alcohol, marketed as an act of self-control, as a contribution to physical regeneration, as a signal of a “sensible lifestyle”. Those who opt out of this ritual quickly find themselves under pressure to justify their decision. What appears to be a voluntary health initiative, however, on closer inspection turns out to be a media-driven standardisation project that suppresses enjoyment, culture and differentiation in favour of simple messages.
Obituary

Remembering Hans-Günter Schwarz

On the Death of the Legendary Winemaker
Image: Wikipedia
Germany's wine world is in mourning. Hans-Günter Schwarz passed away on 21 November 2025 at the age of 84. For decades, Schwarz was arguably the most prominent figure in the German wine scene. He established the international reputation of the Müller-Catoir winery and trained many young winemakers to become top producers. His achievements remain unrivalled to this day.
Comment

Terroir and Misunderstanding

Why the Grape Variety Matters
Image: weinfreaks.de
“A spectre is haunting the world of wine. Its name is terroir.” [translated] With these words, Reinhard Löwenstein once opened his famous essay “Vom Öchsle zum Terroir” (From Oechsle to Terroir), published in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in October 2003. The article was preceded by years of discussion that had shaped the German wine scene since at least the late 1990s. Löwenstein's essay was of enormous importance to the discourse at the time. In many respects, it is still highly topical. Nevertheless, the headline itself contains a serious misunderstanding.
Tasting

Bordeaux: 2022 a Vintage of the Century?

Great Wines despite Great Drought
Image: weinfreaks.de
Apostrophising a vintage as the vintage of the century even before a centenary has passed may seem premature. However, with regard to the 2022s from the Bordeaux region, the assessment that exceptional wines were produced in that year is undoubtedly anything but bold. Of course, not all châteaux were able to triumph. Moreover, the 2022 was anything but a sure-fire success. The course of the vintage presented the winemakers with major challenges. However, in many cases, the result in the bottle can be downright inspiring. We tasted a cross-section of the vintage on the occasion of the presentation of the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux at this year's ProWein.
Comment

ProWein in Decline

Large Drop in Exhibitors and Visitors at the International Wine Fair in Düsseldorf
Image: Messe Düsseldorf
In its press release, Messe Düsseldorf celebrates ProWein 2025 (16–18 March) as a success. However, the facts speak a different language. Only 4200 exhibitors, 20 per cent fewer than last year, were spread across the eleven exhibition halls. The number of visitors also fell, by a good ten per cent to 42000 compared to 2024. While the trade fair continues to emphasise the outstanding importance of ProWein for the international wine industry, the exodus of German wine producers in particular has reached a new dimension. Only around 900 exhibitors came from Germany in 2025.

A selection of our previous posts

Tasting

From Green to Scarlet

The Geologically Unique Vineyards of Prinz Salm
Image: Prinz Salm
As Germany's oldest family-owned winery, Prinz Salm looks back on a history dating back to the year 1200. Until the beginning of the 21st century, the winery concentrated on vineyards in and around Wallhausen. In 2008, Michael Prinz Salm-zu Salm took over the vineyards of the former winery Villa Sachsen in Bingen. This means that the current owner, Felix Prinz zu Salm-Salm, not only has top vineyards on the Nahe, but also in neighbouring Rhinehessen. The green slate in Wallhausen and the scarlet soil of the Bingen Scharlachberg are unique.
Tasting

On the Trail of the Romans

The Resurrection of the Vinum Hadrianum
Image: Vinum Hadrianum
It was his grandfather who once awakened Piero Pavone's fascination for Roman history. In Pavone's hometown, the small town of Atri at the foot of the Abruzzi, the ancient Hadria, this history is still omnipresent and alive today. As a young man, Piero Pavone was initially drawn away from Atri to the big city. But twenty years later he returned to his roots, with the idea of reviving the Vinum Hadrianum, the wine from Roman times.
Comment

Naturals Conquer the Wine World

Formerly Critically Eyed, Now Established
Image: Deutsches Weininstitut
Today, natural wines, also called naturals, form an independent and recognised wine category. Hardly anyone would have seriously expected that this would one day be the case ten or twenty years ago. And rightly so. For a long time, many of the wines were simply faulty. In the meantime, however, the picture has changed decisively. A comment by Werner Elflein.
Tasting

Draught Horse HE

Palatinate Pinot Noirs in Burgundian Style
Image: Pixabay
“Prago”, “Arthos”, “Melandor”. This is how winemaker Uli Metzger from Grünstadt-Asselheim calls his three best Pinot Noirs. Their first vintage, 2012, is now sold out at the winery. Not least because “Arthos” was one of the winning wines at the VINUM German Red Wine Award last year. The young 2013s are already tasting very promising and even indicate an increase compared to the previous year. However, there is not much room for improvement. Uli Metzger's advisor knows that, too. For Hans Erich Dausch, the three Pinot Noirs are in the same league as the best red wines of Burgundy. Dausch can judge that. He knows Burgundy like the back of his hand and is a welcome guest at Romanée-Conti. In his Palatinate homeland, he is better known by his abbreviation HE than by his civil name.
Tasting

Cool Styria

White Wines from Austria's Southeast
Image: Pixabay
In Styria, south of Graz, the majority of white grape varieties grow on 4200 hectares of vineyards. The cool hilly sites produce elegant and highly mineral wines that do not appear fat and correspond to what many wine lovers appreciate. Sauvignon Blanc in particular sets international standards. Mind you, we do not mean the representatives of the Steirische Klassik, which often look like overseas Sauvignons in terms of style, but rather selected terroir and site single vineyard wines that are more reminiscent of the French Loire than of New Zealand, without sacrificing their distinctive flavour. In addition, great wines are also produced from the Chardonnay called Morillon here.
Tasting

Der Klitzekleine Ring Hits the VDP

Steep Slope Rescue on Behalf of Riesling
Image: Deutsches Weininstitut
The Bernkasteler Ring, also known as the Kleiner Ring, was founded in 1899 as an association of winery owners from the Middle Moselle. Since 1901, it has organized wine auctions for its members. It is thus the oldest society in the region to hold wine auctions. Today, the Bernkasteler Ring also includes estates on the Saar and Ruwer rivers. A few years later, in 1908, the Großer Ring formed as a second large winegrowers' association, which first auctioned wines in 1910. The Großer Ring later gave rise to the regional Verband Deutscher Naturweinversteigerer, now the Verband Deutscher Prädikatsweingüter (VDP). A completely different approach is taken by Der klitzekleine Ring, founded in 2005. As the name suggests, the group, which currently comprises ten wineries, does not take itself too seriously.
Tasting

… at the End, the Germans Always Win

The Pinot Noir Country Competition
Image: Pixabay
Although the Pinot Noir is better suited than any other red wine variety to produce unique and incomparable, elegant, finesse-rich and multi-layered wines in a comparatively cool climate, after the Second World War German winegrowers mainly produced pale-coloured, thin drinks smelling of raspberry syrup. It was not until the 1980s that a few ambitious German winegrowers began to think about cultivating and developing Pinot Noir. They drastically reduced yields, separated from inferior high-yielding clones and perfected barrique ageing. Only gradually did this work bear fruit. Today, as our blind tasting shows, German Pinot Noirs are quite capable of not only catching up with their Burgundian competitors, but in some cases even surpassing them in quality.
Tasting

90 Percent Riesling

The Ruwer Trumps
Image: Deutsches Weininstitut
The vineyards in the Ruwer valley belong to the Moselle wine-growing region, which was still called Mosel-Saar-Ruwer until the law was changed in 2006. Riesling dominates the steep slopes. A proud 90 percent of the area is planted with the noble white wine grape. Nowhere else is the proportion of Riesling in the grape variety list higher. Although the filigree and subtle Rieslings from the Ruwer are very similar to those from the Moselle and Saar, they have their own distinctive character. As a result of a longer growing season and lower average temperatures compared to the Moselle Valley, the Ruwer Rieslings are much more acidic and have a pronounced green herbaceous aroma, especially in cooler years.