First of all on every wine-trip I make I try to explore some areas that are unknown to me. The Mittelrhein is an area I appreciate, but the north of this area is still quite unknown to even most wine-lovers. So I decided to take a stop in Leutesdorf on the way. We first had a small stop to try a few wines at the Weingut Scheidgen in Hammerstein just north of Leutesdorf. These are the two villages in the Mittelrhein-part between Koblenz and Bonn that have the best reputation. Geologically the area consists of kiesen (silica?) and sand. Further north is some vulcanic remains from the Siebengebirge.

 

Leutesdorf med sin Gartenlay-vinmark. Foto: Arnt Egil Nordlien

Leutesdorfs slate-soil is in the part of the “Hünsrück-slate” (tonschiefer) which it has in common with Mosel and the most southern part of Mittelrhein. There are three einzellagen in Leutesdorf; Rosenberg is south of the city and touching the southern part of the city, Gartenlay is surrounding the city and goes a little further north, north of this is Forstberg. All three have a straight south-west facing, except the very southern part of Rosenberg which turn more directly south. To me the Gartenlay was the one showing the most pure slatey-notes. The Forstberg could resemble it, but had a more earthiness to it. The Rosenberg was quite different having a more spicy and almost

bacony-notes. According to Horst-Peter Selt this is due to the large portion of small pumince stones which one can find in this einzellage. Weingut Selt makes wine in a slightly reductive style with the making in stainless steel and as little as possible contact with oxygen. As all wines from Weingut Selt is sold within an area of 20 Km. and all wines are drunk quite fast, he tries to make riesling that drinks well at a young age.

 Horst-Peter Selt was a very nice man, but not at all used to having visits of people tasting and talking about wine. But there was no doubt that the wines from Selt is popular in the region. Every 5 minutes there were someone at the door picking up wines to buy and he had no problem selling out the wines he made from his 3 hektar of vines. 70% was riesling.

 

Leutesdorfer Gartenlay riesling QbA halbtrocken 2003 (AP: 1 665 052 8 04)

Light colour, lightly greenish hue. Very nice slatey nose. Quite simple wine, but light and with a fine balance in the mouth. Alc: 11,1%, Rz: 12,2 g/L, Acid: 6,4 g/L. Price 4,50 Eur. Very good wine for the price.

 

Leutesdorfer Rosenberg riesling kabinett halbtrocken 2003 (AP: 7 04)

Same colour. Nose had bacon, spice and a strnage almost vulcanic minerality that Horst-Peter Selt says comes from the pumince stones. It is medium bodied in the mouth. Drier than the Gartenlay and more spritzy. Better acids and probably a better wine than the Gartenlay QbA. But I think I prefer the aromas of the Gartenlay. Alc: 12,0%, Rz: 13,3 g/L, Acid: 7,2 g/L. Price 5,20 Eur. Good for the price.

 

Leutesdorfer Forstberg riesling QbA 2002 (AP: 10 03)

Same colour. More earthy nose. Hints of sweet flowers, mushrooms and slate. Sweeter in the mouth. Quite light and well-balanced wine. But simpler wine and the one I like least of these three first wines. Alc: 11,1%, Rz: 26,8 g/L, Acid: 7,8 g/L. Price 4,30 Eur. Good price.

 

Leutesdorfer Gartenlay riesling auslese 2003 (AP: 11 04)

This is made from a single plot in the Gartenlay from vines planted between 1890-1895. So around 110 years old. Colour is straw/greenish. Nose is sweeter with honey, flowers and some botrytis. Sweet and more powerful in the mouth. Although I would perhaps have expected more concentration from such a wine. Well balanced. A bit closed, but with flowers and some slatey aromas underneath. Needs a little age IMO. Good more than great. Alc: 10,8%, Rz: 71,0 g/L, Acid: 7,1 g/L. Price 8,50 Eur./ 0,5L. Wow that is really cheap.

 

Leutesdorfer Forstberg riesling Beerenauslese 2001 (AP: 12 02)

136 Oechsle. Yellow-green colour. Nose has botrytis and honey with some earthy hints. Slightly fat entry in the mouth. Typical for a BA, but less concentrated and full-bodied than you expect. Quite botrytised and a bit rasiny wine with good balance of acids and good length. Not a stellar BA, but nice. Alc: 10,6%, Rz: 103,2 g/L, Acid: 9,7 g/L. Price 18,- Eur./ 0,375 L.

 

The wines from Weigut Selt are not the very best in Germany, but they are good buys. Horst-Peter Selt seems determined to make wines that shows the character of the einzellage where they were made. And all wines he makes is from a single-einzellage, with the exception of the sekts. The lack in the wines are genereally a bit of concentration and the 2003s showed a touch week in structure. The latter probably due to the vintage.

 

Earlier this day I had a short stop in Hammerstein to visit Weingut Scheidgen. I only did have the time to taste three wines and not a lot of talk. Hammerstein is the next village to the north of Leutesdorf. Here the slate-soil is different from Leutesdorf and has more in common with the Ahr, with a lighter and more fragile type of slate. Also here you find three einzellagen; Schlossberg, taking over north from Leutesdorfer Forstberg, surpassing the ruin of Burg Hammerstein and touching the south of the town, In den Layfelsen stretch out from the north of the town and further north, while the Hölle is squeezed in between the city and the Rhein and also along the river a bit north of the town (between the river and the Layfelsen). Weingut Scheidgen has 11,5 Ha. of wines and 40% is riesling. According to them the in den Layfelsen is their best vineyard, but unlike Weingut Selt in Leutesdorf the Scheidgen has a tradition of some more blending of einzellagen. They also quite often use the grosslage-name of Burg Hammerstein. On every label Weingut Scheidgen lists alcohol and also the residual sugar. Perhaps a bit wine-geeky, but I find that to be quite useful information.

 

Hammersteiner Hölle riesling Hochgewächs Qualitätswein 2003 (AP: 1 663 026 15 04)

Very light straw colour. Nice and simple riesling nose of aromatic flowers and slate. Medium to light in the mouth. Sweet wine but well balanced acids. Flowery and quite simple. Medium length. A nice and sweet QbA at a very good price. Alc: 9%, Rz: 61,9 g/L, Acid: 7,1 g/L. Price 4,50 Eur./ 0,75 L.

 

Hammersteiner In den Layfelsen riesling auslese halbtrocken 2003 (AP: 13 04)

Straw colour. Nose has wet stones and slate with a touch of flowers and honey. Off-dry and full-bodied in the mouth. Here also quite stoney and slatey with decent acids, but high alcohol in the finish and unbalanced. Not good even for the price. Alc: 13%, Rz: 13,8 g/L, Price 10,50 Eur./ 0,5 L.

 

Hammersteiner riesling auslese 2002 (AP: 23 03)

110 Oechsle, 346 bottles made. Yellow/green colour. Shows some botrytis in the nose with hints of honey, raisins, tropical fruits and some earth. Slightly fat in the start of the mouth. Good concentration. Sweet and honeyed, shows some slate. Young and promising. Raw acids. High in malic acids. Long taste of green apple-peel. Not for the faint of heart. But a very good wine if you can tolerate the acids. I like it and it was probably the best wine of the day. Alc: 7,5%, Rz: 142,0 g/L, Acid: 10 g/L. Price 12,- Eur./ 0,375 L.

 

Although perhaps lacking the vineyard-personality of the wines from Weingut Selt, the wines from Scheidgen showed more concentration and structure. But the balancing act seemed to be a bit hard to manage correctly sometimes and I would be careful before buying wines here. But when things go correctly the wines are very good and prices are low.

 

The weather during this day, 20^th September, was very poor and during the night became stormy, with lots of wind and rain. The next days things got a little bit better and we headed towards Rheingau.