GG – Kloster Eberbach 2017 Riesling

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 At the end of one stressful workday, I felt that I need to treat myself with a bubble bath and a bottle size glass of Riesling.

I love Riesling! It is one of the most versatile grapes in the world. It can make wines from bone dry to lusciously sweet. It can be grown in different regions in the world. It’s very tolerant to cold and buds late (avoids spring frosts), therefore it is suitable for cool climates. It has also a very good ageing potential.

Germany is the homeland of Riesling but I personally like very much Rieslings from Alsace. Austria has a good reputation as well. Outside of Europe, Australia is known for Rieslings from Clare and Eden Valley. Washington State in USA makes amazing stuff. Chateau Ste Michelle, is one of my favourites. There are Rieslings being produced also in NY State and New Zealand. In Canada, a delicious ice wine is made.

For that gloomy Thursday evening, I had a bottle of 2017 Kloster Eberbach that I got from my former flat mate. He saw me studying hard every day for WSET 3 exam so before he moved out, he gave me this wine to ease the exam stress. Exam is well behind me but I was sure this bottle would help me through other more or less stressful times too J

The wine is beautiful deep lemon colour.

It has medium+ aromas of hay, pineapple, mango, sweet lemon, white flowers, and honeysuckle. In the beginning, the farmyard and hay aromas are quite pungent. This can be due to reduction, meaning that wine has been protected from oxygen. After being open a bit, the tropical fruit notes get stronger and even cream and butter notes emerge.

Wine is dry, with high acidity, medium alcohol (12%), medium+ flavour complexity and medium body. Flavours linger for some time after swallowing.

I would definitely judge this as a very good to outstanding quality wine, even if I did not know a little quality indicator on the bottle.


The GG and the bunch of grapes on the bottleneck and an eagle on the capsule

GG stands for Grosses Gewächs and it is used by an independent group of German winemakers called Verband Deutscher Prädikatsweingüter (VDP) to indicate the best dry wines of the group. The grape varieties vary from region to region but one thing is sure – you get the quality stuff.

Vivino score: 4.3

I gave: 4.5

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