Niederberg's Helden (Heroes)
Schloss Lieser and Thanisch in blind tasting
8 February 2020
Werner Elflein
Image: PixabayThey live in the same village, cultivate their vines in the same vineyards and are even friends with each other. In the past decades, both have played a significant role in polishing up the reputation of the Lieser vineyards.
One, Thomas Haag, left his parental home, the Fritz Haag winery in Brauneberg, in 1993 to refurbish an old estate on the other bank of the Moselle. He has succeeded with lasting effect. Today, Schloss Lieser is one of the most highly decorated German wineries.
The other, Jörg Thanisch, looks back on a long family tradition. The first evidence of viticulture by the Thanischs dates back to 1648. The first-class Rieslings that leave the cellar of the Thanisch winery were long considered an insider tip among wine freaks. Only gradually are they receiving the appreciation in mainstream wine criticism that we believe they have deserved for more than a decade.
We tasted a representative cross-section of this year's Riesling collection, the 2018 vintage, from both wineries. However, the question was less about which winery would end up on top of the winner's podium. Rather, it was about recognising individual strengths, stylistic differences and different concepts in dealing with a hot-climate year that in a few decades – scientists are largely in agreement on this – is likely to be representative of the second half of the 21st century.
Jörg Thanisch deliberately harvested earlier, and his Rieslings have a remarkably high degree of elegance and finesse considering the vintage. Thomas Haag's collection, on the other hand, still seems rather closed, especially the dry Rieslings sometimes even appear monolithic and point to the future.
But if our blind tasting showed one thing clearly, it was that two top Middle Moselle wineries were on an equal footing.
Jörg Thanisch still relies on the traditional predicates Kabinett and Spätlese for his dry Rieslings, only the Großes Gewächs from the Lieser Niederberg-Helden, released for the first time in 2018, and the “Alte Reben R”, which in some years is off-dry, play a special role. The great Kabinett from the Lieser Rosenlay, the vineyard directly behind the winery, has a moderate 11.5 % alcohol and provides pure drinking pleasure with its floral character and vital acidity. Thomas Haag's counterpart, the "Kabinettstück", on the other hand, already appears as a representative of a higher weight class, which is followed up with the "Heldenstück", a de facto Spätlese from the Lieser Niederberg-Helden. The top group of dry Rieslings, which on paper seemed to be reserved for the Großes Gewächs of both wineries and Jörg Thanisch's “Alte Reben R”, was joined by a fourth wine, the Spätlese from Thanisch.
In the case of the delicately fruity Kabinetts, more or less personal preferences decided and let the pendulum swing in favour of either Thomas Haag's Brauneberg Juffer or Jörg Thanisch's Bernkastel-Kues Weisenstein. A similar picture emerged from the tasting of the sweet Spätlesen and Auslesen. Here, however, both wineries clearly celebrated German Riesling culture at the highest level. We tasted Thomas Haag's Auslese Lange Goldkapsel from the Niederberg-Helden in outstanding form, captivating us with perfect botrytis and a never-ending presence on the tongue.
A magnum bottle of Jörg Thanisch's 2007 Riesling “Alte Reben” caused a big surprise. The wine presented itself excellently matured with a surprisingly expansive and complex aroma reminiscent of ripe oranges.
The wines at a glance
Schloss Lieser
Am Markt 1-5
54470 Lieser
Germany
Phone: +49 6531 6431
Fax: +49 6531 1068
Internet: www.weingut-schloss-lieser.de
E‑mail: info@weingut-schloss-lieser.de
2018 “SL” Riesling Qualitätswein trocken
Germany
Mosel • Geschützte Ursprungsbezeichnung (g. U.)
Amtliche Prüfungsnummer 2589314 1 19 • 12.5 % vol alcohol
2018 “Heldenstück” Riesling Qualitätswein trocken
VDP.GUTSWEIN®
Germany
Mosel • Geschützte Ursprungsbezeichnung (g. U.)
Amtliche Prüfungsnummer 2589314 5 19 • 12.5 % vol alcohol
2018 Lieser Niederberg-Helden Riesling Qualitätswein trocken
VDP.GROSSE LAGE® / VDP.GROSSES GEWÄCHS®
Germany
Mosel • Geschützte Ursprungsbezeichnung (g. U.)
Amtliche Prüfungsnummer 2589314 30 19 • 13 % vol alcohol
2018 “Kabinettstück” Riesling Kabinett trocken
VDP.GUTSWEIN®
Germany
Mosel • Geschützte Ursprungsbezeichnung (g. U.)
Amtliche Prüfungsnummer 2589314 3 19 • 12.5 % vol alcohol
2018 Brauneberg Juffer Riesling Qualitätswein feinherb
VDP.GROSSE LAGE®
Germany
Mosel • Geschützte Ursprungsbezeichnung (g. U.)
Amtliche Prüfungsnummer 2589314 7 19 • 12.5 % vol alcohol
2018 Brauneberg Juffer Riesling Kabinett
VDP.GROSSE LAGE®
Germany
Mosel • Geschützte Ursprungsbezeichnung (g. U.)
Amtliche Prüfungsnummer 2589314 10 19 • 8.5 % vol alcohol
2018 Brauneberg Juffer Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese
VDP.GROSSE LAGE®
Germany
Mosel • Geschützte Ursprungsbezeichnung (g. U.)
Amtliche Prüfungsnummer 2589314 15 19 • 8 % vol alcohol
2018 Lieser Niederberg-Helden Riesling Spätlese
VDP.GROSSE LAGE®
Germany
Mosel • Geschützte Ursprungsbezeichnung (g. U.)
Amtliche Prüfungsnummer 2589314 14 19 • 8 % vol alcohol
2018 Lieser Niederberg-Helden Riesling Auslese
VDP.GROSSE LAGE®
Germany
Mosel • Geschützte Ursprungsbezeichnung (g. U.)
Amtliche Prüfungsnummer 2589314 18 19 • 7.5 % vol alcohol
2018 Lieser Niederberg-Helden Riesling Auslese Long Gold Capsule
VDP.GROSSE LAGE®
Germany
Mosel • Geschützte Ursprungsbezeichnung (g. U.)
Amtliche Prüfungsnummer 2589314 24 19 • 7 % vol alcohol
Thanisch
Moselstraße 56
54470 Lieser
Germany
Phone: +49 6531 8227
Fax: +49 6531 8294
Internet: www.thanisch.de
E‑mail: info@thanisch.de
2018 Lieser Niederberg-Helden Riesling Alte Reben R Qualitätswein trocken
Germany
Mosel • Geschützte Ursprungsbezeichnung (g. U.)
Amtliche Prüfungsnummer 2589227 20 19 • 12.5 % vol alcohol
2018 “Tribut” Riesling Grauschiefer Qualitätswein trocken
Germany
Mosel • Geschützte Ursprungsbezeichnung (g. U.)
Amtliche Prüfungsnummer 2589227 30 19 • 12.5 % vol alcohol
2018 Lieser Niederberg-Helden Riesling Qualitätswein trocken
Großes Gewächs
Germany
Mosel • Geschützte Ursprungsbezeichnung (g. U.)
Amtliche Prüfungsnummer 2589227 23 19 • 12.5 % vol alcohol
2018 Lieser Rosenlay Riesling Kabinett trocken
Germany
Mosel • Geschützte Ursprungsbezeichnung (g. U.)
Amtliche Prüfungsnummer 2589227 16 19 • 11.5 % vol alcohol
2018 Lieser Niederberg-Helden Riesling Spätlese trocken
Germany
Mosel • Geschützte Ursprungsbezeichnung (g. U.)
Amtliche Prüfungsnummer 2589227 18 19 • 12.5 % vol alcohol
2018 Lieser Niederberg-Helden Riesling Kabinett feinherb
Germany
Mosel • Geschützte Ursprungsbezeichnung (g. U.)
Amtliche Prüfungsnummer 2589227 17 19 • 11 % vol alcohol
2018 Bernkastel-Kues Weisenstein Riesling Kabinett
Germany
Mosel • Geschützte Ursprungsbezeichnung (g. U.)
Amtliche Prüfungsnummer 2589227 12 19 • 9 % vol alcohol
2018 Brauneberg Juffer Riesling Spätlese
Germany
Mosel • Geschützte Ursprungsbezeichnung (g. U.)
Amtliche Prüfungsnummer 2589227 15 19 • 7.5 % vol alcohol
2018 Lieser Niederberg-Helden Riesling Spätlese
Germany
Mosel • Geschützte Ursprungsbezeichnung (g. U.)
Amtliche Prüfungsnummer 2589227 13 19 • 7.5 % vol alcohol
2018 Lieser Niederberg-Helden Riesling Auslese
Germany
Mosel • Geschützte Ursprungsbezeichnung (g. U.)
Amtliche Prüfungsnummer 2589227 14 19 • 7.5 % vol alcohol
2018 Lieser Niederberg-Helden Riesling Auslese ***
Germany
Mosel • Geschützte Ursprungsbezeichnung (g. U.)
Amtliche Prüfungsnummer 2589227 11 19 • 7.5 % vol alcohol
2013 Lieser Niederberg-Helden Riesling Alte Reben R Qualitätswein
Germany
Mosel • Geschützte Ursprungsbezeichnung (g. U.)
Amtliche Prüfungsnummer 2589227 20 14 • 13 % vol alcohol
2007 Riesling Alte Reben Qualitätswein
Germany
Mosel • Geschützte Ursprungsbezeichnung (g. U.)
Amtliche Prüfungsnummer 2589227 20 08 • 12 % vol alcohol • bottled under the former name Ludwig Thanisch & Sohn
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. |