The last visit in Saale-Unstrut went to Winzerhof Gussek. Gussek's two main vineyards are the Naumburger Steinmeister and Kaatschener Dachsberg. In Steinmeister Gussek grows mainly Müller-Thurgau, riesling, weissburgunder and blauer zweigelt. You also find some portugieser and silvaner. The Steinmeister gives wines with a pronounced minerality. They are often quite intense, broad and open wines. You also find very fine sweet wines from this vineyard. In the Kaatchener Dachsberg you find mostly silvaner, weissburgunder and spätburgunder from Gussek. But also a whole bunch of other grapes as riesling, portugieser, blauer zweigelt, kerner, traminer and grauburgunder. The vines in the einzellage Kaatchener Dachsberg is spilt in two. One newly rebuilt terrassed part. Most vines here are 7-8 years old. The other non-terrassed part has older vines. The wines I tasted from Kaatchener Dachsberg is a contrast to the Naumburger Steinmeister. The Dachsberg gives steely, slim and purer wines with fine structure that probably needs some more time to shine. So to the tasting.

Naumburger Steinmeister grüner silvaner QbA 2005
Underripe and leafy nose. Fine. Some hints of honey and mineral. Good body. Concentrated silvaner. Thick fruit. Some residual sugar. A little old-fashioned style, but very fine and complex silvaner. Fine acidity. Very good. Drinking fine now. 11,5% alc/vol, 9 g/L residual sugar.

Kaatchener Dachsberg grüner silvaner QbA trocken 2006
More stoney, steely nose. Mineral. Young and tight silvaner in the mouth. Slim, mineral, cool style. Less concentration than the Steinmeister. Fine wine that needs a year or two in the cellar. 12,7% alc/vol, 4,7 g/L residual sugar, 6,4 g/L acid. Price 7,90 €.


 Kaatchener Dachsberg grüner silvaner spätlese*** Bin 80 2006
Mineral, stoney nose with more chalk and underripe leafy silvaner-notes. Very fine indeed. More concentration in the mouth. A little sweetness in the fruit. Riper. Young and interesting. Mineral. Good acidity and length. Very promising. Great silvaner. From 80 years old vines. 13,0% alc/vol, 6,8 g/L residual sugar, 5,8 g/L acid. Price 12,50 €.


Naumburger Steinmeister rieling kabinett trocken 2006
Lightly underripe flowery nose with light mineral hints. Quite light riesling in the mouth. Dry. More fruity than the nose, but also more mineral showing. Fine acidity and finish. A little light riesling in a fine style. 12,6% alc/vol, 7,0 g/L residual sugar, 6,3 g/L acid. Price: 7,80 €.

Kaatchener Dachsberg riesling kabinett trocken 2006
Also lightly underripe nose, but much more stoney and steely with lots of citrus. Light and dry riesling in the mouth. Structured. Citrusy and mineral fruit. Some spritz and brighter acidity. Refreshing and fine light riesling with good length. Perhaps not the depth of the above wine. 11,1% alc/vol, 7,1 g/L residual sugar, 7,9 g/L acid. Price: 7,80 €.

Kaatchener Dachsberg riesling spätlese feinherb 2006
Also another stoney and steely riesling, but with some honey on the nose. More powerful in the mouth with better concentration. Sweeter fruit, but still highly steely and stoney. Fine structure and citrusy finish. Seems quite dry. Fine balance. Very fine for the price. 12,3% alc/vol, 10,2 g/L residual sugar, 7,8 g/L acid. Price: 9,40 €.

Naumburger Steinmeister riesling spätlese*** Bin 60 2006
Riper, more honeyed and aromatic, nose. Fine and complex minerality. In the mouth it has a little more pronounced sweetness and residual sugar. Still almost dry style. Highly mineral effort in the mouth. Very fine and interesting. Fine structure with good acidity. Drinks fine today, but will be interesting to follow. Very good riesling. From 60 years old vines. 12,8% alc/vol, 15,8 g/L residual sugar, 8,2 g/L acid. Price: 14,50 €.

Naumburger Steinmeister riesling auslese 2006
Honeyed nose, some sweet flowers and botrytis. Thick auslese in the mouth with more botrytis noticable. Sweet flowery fruit, some minerality showing. Fine acidity. Alcohol showing a little in the finish. Fine, but perhaps even better with lower alcohol. 12,8% alc/vol, 76 g/L residual sugar, 7,7 g/L acid. Price: 13,-€.

Kaatchener Dachsberg traminer spätlese feinherb 2006
Spicy, aromatic nose. Some perfume and lightly tropical aromas. In the mouth this wine shows a lightly fat in front. The fruit is a little closed. Strangely muted after the open nose. Not too high concentration?? Decent acidity and the alcohol shows a little on the finish. Must retry later to see if the fruit has opened. 13,8% alc/vol, 17 g/L residual sugar, 5,6 g/L acid. Price: 9,90 €.

Naumburger Steinmeister weissburgunder spätlese trocken 2006
Quite ripe wiessburgunder in the nose. A bit more neutral. Still also shows some minerality. A little light weissburgunder in the mouth. Fine concentration. More mineral here and nice fruit. Fine acidity and length. Nice weissburgunder. 13,0% alc/vol, 7,4 g/L residual sugar, 6,1 g/L acid. Price: 9,20 €.

Kaatchener Dachsberg weissburgunder spätlese 2006
Ripe weissburgunder in the nose, but also fine hints of cold stone and citrus. Slimmer in the mouth than the Steinmeister with more pronounced stoney and steely character. Acidity seems a little lower in the balance and the wine a little shorter. Some citrus in the finish. Needs time. 12,7% alc/vol, 8,3 g/L residual sugar, 5,6 g/L acid. Price: 9,20 €.

Naumburger Steinmeister weissburgunder auslese in barrique 2005
Ripe and sweet nose. Oak. Honey in the fruit. Also some fine minerality. Fullbodied and fatter style in the mouth with pronounced oakiness right now. But the fruit has the stuffing and the balance is fine. Fruit is quite ripe and sweet, but there is a fine minerality here. Very nice wine indeed.

Kaatchener Dachsberg weissburgunder spätlese in barrique 2004
Sweeter nose, more apricot and oak. Hints of flowers and light stones. Fullbodied weissburgunder in the mouth with some oak up front. Young fruit, lots of apricot. Not as concentrated. The steely minerality seems more lost in the mouth. Medium acids. Fair.


 Kaatchener Dachsberg weissburgunder auslese in barrique 2006
Barrel-sample. This has a fine nose that is a little yeasty right now with some sur lie-character. Underneath there is fine hints of mineral and anise. In the mouth this shows the fat from the oak better. But this has a very fine balance indeed. Fine fruit and some minerality. More sweetness in the fruit and also more residual sugar. This seems to have great potensial and can really be something magnificent.

Kaatchener Dachsberg kerner spätlese 2006
Flowery and quite aromatic nose. Lightly steely hints. Powerful and sweetish wine in the mouth. Lots of fruit. Concentrated. Flowery, balsamic with a nice underlying steely minerality. Quite refreshing kerner. Fine. 12,1% alc/vol, 64,2 g/L residual sugar, 7,0 g/L acid. Price: 9,90 €.


Naumburger Steinmeister silvaner trockenbeerenauslese 2006
Very fine nose on this. Honeyed, lots of botrytis, but also a refreshing fruity nose. Fat, rich and very thick style in the mouth. Lovely fruit, clean and pure. Lightly tropical notes and lots of botrytis. Acidic finish. Refreshing and fine balance. This is a great TBA with a long future. 201 Oechsle. 10,5% alc/vol, 215 g/L residual sugar, 9,3 g/L acid. Price: 75,- € (37,5 cl) and worth it.

Winzerhof Gussek is mostly known for their sweet wines and the Silvaner TBA explains why. But to me Gussek represents perhaps the finest producer in the Saale-Unstrut right now.The wines from spätlese and upwards represents wines with a depth and minerality that is highly interesting. Combined with often very fine structure and balance. Considered that many of the wines from the Kaatchener Dachsberg comes from young vines this producer should be one to follow with great pleasure in the future.

Arnt Egil Nordlien
Tasting note: Sep-07

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