Traiser Bastei
– One of the Great Vineyards of Germany 
– A Narrow Strip of Cines
– Clinging to the Foot of the Rotenfels
– Almost No Rainfall
– Vines Are Bansi-like
– Pitiful Yields
2021 Gut Hermannsberg Bastei Grosses Gewachs
– 98 Points Stuart Pigott
– “Enormous concentration and energy” (SP)
– Nose: Huge Aromatic Fruit
– Apricot, Peach Skin and Crazy Confectionery Aromas
– Deep, Mineral, Super Complex
– Sandy, Salty
– A Roundness
– Palate: So Complex and Concentrated
– Superbly Mineral
– Stunning Purity and Finesse
– Massive Structure
– Long Finish
– Dense and Chewy
Wine As Film – Intellectualism Versus Hedonism 
As many of you know I am a film buff/junkie/aficionado as that was my major in college and I still love it to this day. Letterbox is my favorite social media. I learned a lot in my film studies but the one lesson I am bringing to you today is a bit complex but please follow me.
I love all types of films and there are many I watch over and over. There are also many films I understand, respect and appreciate but can’t watch over and over. Sometimes all I need is one viewing and I am good. Why? Because they are uncompromising films where the pleasure I gain from the film is not immediate but it’s fleeting. They may have shocking images, themes or be about depressing subjects. Every film should not be wrapped up in a pretty bow with a clear resolution. Film is art but also entertainment. Wine is art but also a grocery. I’ll be coming back to that.
5 Films that I love but can’t watch all the time
- Salo (Piero Pasolini)
- In the Realm Of The Senses (Nagisa Oshima)
- Female Trouble (John Waters)
- Come and See (Elem Klimov)
- Wax or the Discovery of Television Among the Bee (David Blair)
I encourage all of you to see these films but please Google them first as they are not for the faint of heart! Well Wax is different than the other 4 in that it’s very hard to parse narratively. But the others are all shockers but I adore them.
I always say the most important thing about a film is how it makes me feel. Same is true for wine. I need it to make me feel something beyond it tasting delicious. And sometimes with these hard films it takes me a few viewings for it to penetrate my consciousness and make me feel something. It’s the same with wine. The pleasure principle in wine is overrated in my opinion. Wine needn’t be about 100% pleasure. I mean we have a term called “cerebral wines” for a reason. It’s a wine that can stimulate intellectually. Burgundy, Barolo all have examples of this and some Bordeaux as well. I love wines that are cerebral. No fruit German dry wines that are all different levels of rocks and minerals. More please.
All of this brings me to today’s wine and estate. I love love, love this estate with all my heart. But I’m going to be brutally honest, some of you don’t. Why? Well because these wines, WHEN YOUNG, are lacking a bit in the pleasure principle category. And I’ve only sold relatively young wines. We did just sell the 2018 Gut Hermannsberg Reserve GG which we marketed as German Corton Charlemagne and when you all taste this wine it will blow all of you away and finally introduce you to the delights of Gut Hermannsberg. It’s a warm vintage in a very cool area (Nahe) from a mineral focused high acid estate. The perfect storm. It’s one of my favorite Rieslings we have ever sold. I’ve sold 2019 and 2021 GGs which are all awesome but need time. I’ve had older wines at the estate and wow do they blossom into something amazing. The lesser wines like Von Vulkan and Steinterrasen I adore but I know this list and you all want GG’s and I also know that most of the other GG’s and GG style wines I sell are approachable in their youth. Thorle, Weltner, Laible and Steinmetz all show wonderful when young. Even 2017 Gut Hermannsberg Kupfergrube Reserve which I drank around 3 months ago needed 2 hours open and even then it was all silky minerals. What really sold me on the brilliant aging curves of the Gut Hermannsberg wines was a 1991 Schlossbockleheimer Kupfergrube QBA I tasted in summer 22. It was stunning and so pure. If a 1991 QBA can age this well what does that say about the vastly improved current batch of wines? It says stock your cellars as they will get there.
The Wine
Today I have 2021 Gut Hermannsberg Bastei Grosses Gewachs from one of my absolute favorite vineyards in all of Germany, the Traiser Bastei. It will be $71.99 a bottle on a 3-pack2021 Gut Hermannsberg Bastei Grosses Gewachs
The Vineyard
This an elite vineyard that is nestled at the top of a cliff on the side of a highway and is one of the most striking vineyards to look at. No vineyard on Earth is more extreme than the Bastei. It is a narrow strip of vines clinging to the foot of the more than 200 meter high Rotenfels which is German for red cliffs.
The Rotenfels is particularly impressive looking when the rock face glows red in the setting sun. This gigantic mass of volcanic rhyolite is the highest inland cliff between the Alps and Scandinavia. The soil is composed of the fragments that fell off the cliff over thousands of years and collected at its base. This, along with an average rainfall of barely half a meter per year, has transformed the Riesling vines in the Bastei into semi-bonsai. Gut Hermannsberg’s scant single hectare yields just a couple of thousand bottles each year, but what a stunning wine it is!
Vinification
The Bastei GG needs some time for its warm yet mysterious personality to fully unfold, and it therefore spends two full years in cask before bottling. In spite of its tendency to opulence – ripe apricot and mango aromas are typical – the wine’s finale is always cool and delicately mineral.
On the nose, the 2021 Bastei Grosses Gewachs has huge aromatic fruit. Apricot, peach skin and crazy confectionery aromas. Wow. Deep, mineral, super complex aromas. Stunning. Love love this site. Pineapple, but juuuust ripe. The nose has a breadth and pungency that is trademark Bastei. After air the nose gets sandy, salty. There’s a roundness to the nose. This nose is so complex there is a periodic table element to it. This is an intellectual a nose as I have ever smelled!
On the palate, this is elegant and ripe. Very very pure. Palate is massive, intense, superbly mineral and dry, dry, dry. Wow is this deep. Complex and concentrated. Stunning purity and finesse. Wow. So so superb. Long and opulent. Lovely density yet freshness and length one can’t believe. Really dense and chewy. Barely ripe meyer lemon. Pulls off the sweet and sour thing so well. Delicate yet big. What a massive structure. Terrific depth and concentration. Sappy and structure to burn. Really takes over your mouth. This is glorious. But it is mineral, dense, chewy and the fruit is in the background and will be for years. Right now it is intellectualy unreal bit the hedonism will come
What a looong finish. Really dense and chewy.
Will likely greatly improve with air. Backend is so young. Needs 5 years.
Below is the 98 point Stuart Pigott review.
“A mineral giant with a ton of smoke, wild herb and bergamot complexity. Enormous concentration and energy with racy and extremely stony acidity. And the sweet fruit complements this beautifully at the very long and complete finish. From organically grown grapes with Fair’n Green certification. Drink or hold.” – 98 Points Stuart Pigott
Midjourney
As you know, we believe that strict recitations of tasting notes is only part of the story of a wine. We’ve always tried to include metaphors to try to give our readers a better understanding of how wines impact us. These metaphors have included architecture, painting, music and poetry.
We’re trying something new to help create visual metaphors using Midjourney, a generative artificial intelligence program that is by far the best image gneratour out there. I’ve messed around with a bunch and this is by far the best. We look forward to hearing your feedback.
Please call Cheryl at 949 378 5251 after emailing with your order if you are a first time customer (we prefer not to receive credit card numbers over E-Mail).
OFFICE HOURS 4-7 PM
I love drinking and selecting wines – but my passion for teaching people about wine is almost as big. I’m happy to announce a block of time each day where people can call me just to chat about wine in general. These blocks are NOT intended to sell wine (I do that all day). This is to talk to me about wine pairings or great producers or how long to age wines or styles of wine making or the latest wine controversy. My goal is to help people learn more about wine and enjoy it more. Call me at 917-912-4355 from 4-7EST Monday – Friday.
2021 Gut Hermannsberg Traiser Bastei GG – $73.99
($215.97 3-pack) (VERY LIMITED)
This Offer is Not Available to Retailers, Wholesalers or Restaurants
Shipping will be charged when wine ships.
These will be shipped in the Spring of 2024
Previous Offers Still Open
2018 Compagnie de l’Hermitage Gigondas – $51.99
($199.96 4-pack)
2020 Achim Durr Pinot Noir Hard 225 – $41.99
($159.96 4-pack)
2020 Achim Durr Sauvignon Blanc Vom Keuper – $34.99 ($131.96 4-pack)
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