Before we dive in, a quick note to frame my notes: I tasted blind wherever possible. I only knew the region, the grape variety, and the flight number—never the individual wines or estates in a given flight. And it’s not always about the “highest” objective score for me; it’s also about whether a wine moved me. Goosebump moments? Campfire vibes? Or just pure joy? Those are factors I included in my personal highlights below.

Of course, what follows can only ever be a snapshot that needs to be read as such. Think of the whole as a mosaic of puzzle pieces. In my case: a picture of the 2024 Riesling vintage—with a few 2023s in the mix. You’ll find my impressions of the 2023 and 2024 Pinots and Silvaners here.

Since a full write-up of all 478 wines would blow up this blog, I focused on each region’s highlights and overall takeaways.

For 2024, the Mosel, Saar, and Ruwer showed a split personality. The broad middle was solid; genuine peaks at the top were rare. The vintage feels cool, crystalline, and clearly marked by prominent, often dominant acidity. In some wines the acidity felt almost sharp and under-ripe, and a few came across as simply too thin.

And yet there were those electrifying instants: the best 2024s danced across the palate—brilliant, bell-clear, and full of vibrating energy—wines that gave you that brief, warm goosebump shiver.

Still, my bottom line is clear: for 2024 you need to choose carefully on the Mosel. It wasn’t an easy year, and truly top wines are scarce. Adding to the pain, many growers were hit by devastating spring frost. Quantities are small to begin with; the very best are even smaller.

Now let’s turn to the wines that truly impressed me. When several wines from the same estate win me over, I sum them up in an “Estate Report.” If you are interested in my rating system, you can find more information here.

Best Collection – Mosel

Once again, Clemens Busch convinced. Even though 2024 was immensely challenging for organic and biodynamic growers like Clemens, he delivered a collection defined by finesse and balance. The clear highlight for me was Marienburg Rothenpfad: fine, pale, white-fleshed fruit, a touch of dark spice and herbs. On the palate it’s carried by a tightly woven mesh of racy acidity, delicate gloss, and an energetic depth. Salty, taut, and dancing into a long finish. Great.

Worth mentioning

Zilliken’s Auf der Rausch from 2023 is gloriously juicy, scented of fresh yellow fruit. Super balanced, dense, and complex, with a touch of exotic juiciness and a salty, mouthwatering finish. Lovely. Excellent. I also want to note Nik Weiss’s Goldtröpfchen 2023: racy, salty, and taut with a long, energetic finish. Nik’s wines have become drier and more precise over the last two years—very much to their benefit.

Hidden Gems

Besides the big, well-known names, I also want to highlight some “hidden gems.” Wiesbaden offers a wonderful opportunity to discover wineries that don’t necessarily find themselves in the spotlight of the usual wine magazines. One such winery is Grans-Fassian. This year, Katharina has bottled some wonderfully vibrant, spicy, and beautifully balanced Rieslings. My standout from the harmonious collection was the Apotheke. On the nose, an enticing mix of black pepper, herbs, and grapefruit. Then on the palate, it delivers a true “attack”: taut, refined, with bright fruit and plenty of herbs. Deep, compact, astringent, and gripping, with a spicy, zesty freshness and immense potential in the finish. Excellent. A winery to keep an eye on, as the wines have become noticeably more taut, dry, and assertive in recent years – exactly what I expect from a GG.

Just two wines from one estate—far too little for a representative picture. A pity more producers didn’t take part.

The Rheingau has been catching flak for years—often harshly, sometimes with a bit of relish. I get the core of the criticism, but much of it feels glib and under-informed. One thing needs saying clearly: the wines aren’t bad per se. Quite the opposite—thanks to a lightly sweet core, many have a certain charm in tasting. For the “average” drinker, that’s actually a plus: that hint of residual sugar makes the wines accessible and enjoyable young. What we pros occasionally fault is precisely what makes these wines approachable for many.

What needs to be said

My criticism kicks in elsewhere: the VDP.Rheingau again presented many lovely, pleasurable wines—solid to very good at village level and sometimes even at “1G” level. The problem is that only few estates consistently push their GGs into the national top tier. The qualitative spread remains obvious.

Compared with last year the picture has improved slightly, but the core issues remain: too often the wines lack depth, firmness, and the layered complexity one expects from a VDP.GROSSES GEWÄCHS®—especially at €35 and up. Rieslings that are instant fun but show little aging potential should frankly be labeled village or Erste Lage. That was my point last year and it still stands: if the GG symbol is to retain its significance, there needs to be a consistently high minimum standard. Right now, that’s not the case—across regions, to be fair.

That it can be done is proven by a handful of estates that deliver year after year. I’d particularly highlight Peter Jakob Kühn (PJK), Barth, Prinz, and Weil, who once again form the qualitative apex for me. There were also bright spots at August Kesseler, Künstler (not my preferred style), parts of Wegeler, and Oetinger (not submitted).

What remains is a region full of history, charm, and great landscapes, which I personally value. All the more do I hope to see more of the truly dry wines the Rheingau’s reputation deserves.

Highlights

Enough with the criticism—there were highlights. PJK delivered the most convincing collection in 2023 yet again. The wines came across juicy, fresh, dense, very well balanced, and with that typical PJK signature of herbs and spice. They fit the vintage profile very well. Above all, the debut Berg Schlossberg succeeded right out of the gate: herbal, with deep dark spice, fairly phenolic on the palate, juicy, very precise, with charming acidity and a convincingly long, filigreed finish.

Prinz also impressed again, albeit with less density and complexity than in previous years. I also want to note the quality lift at Wegeler noticeable since 2021. Under Richard Grosche the wines are trending drier, tauter, more precise—continued in 2023. A welcome development that bodes well.

Worth mentioning

Then there’s the 2024 Gräfenberg from Robert Weil. A wine often underestimated in youth. Chalky, pale stony fruit, a hint of white pepper—quiet and restrained. That is exactly how young Gräfenberg tastes—often overlooked. But those who know how the Kiedrich wines evolve after 6–8 years also know the stature and elegance they reach. And they do so reliably, year after year. I recently attended a vertical of Gräfenberg GG from 2023 back to 2012 and was impressed once again (my write-up is coming soon). I’ll say it clearly: the 2024 Gräfenberg is perhaps the best young Gräfenberg of the last five years I’ve had. I said the same about the ’23—but ’24 ups the ante again.

As strong as ever—and yet somehow unusually weak. Yes, we’re nitpicking at a high level, but the Nahe’s baseline has been higher before. At the same time, we need to be fair in 2024: growers here had a brutal year.

A devastating spring frost cost some estates nearly their entire crop. Then came rain, high disease pressure, and a harvest that made it extremely hard to pick healthy, fully ripe grapes. Many Nahe growers had the same struggles as those on the Saar and Ruwer. Under these conditions, their efforts can’t be praised enough.

At the top you’ll still find fantastic wines in 2024: crystalline, delicate, with racy acidity and lots of inner tension. These aren’t for quick pleasure—they’re long-distance runners that will reveal their class with time and patience.

Best collection – Nahe

Collection of the Year on the Nahe goes to Schäfer-Fröhlich (SF). His 2024 Felseneck is a quiet monument. Yes, the typical SF “stinker” on the nose at first, then lots of salted lemon, pale blossoms, light spice—everything fine-grained and densely interwoven. On the palate it’s salty, assertive, very compact and lively, with a very long, biting finish. Truly great wine.

At Dr. Crusius I have to single out Kupfergrube. A wine with everything: fine, ripe nose, gentle gloss on the palate, proper drive, and a long, juicy finish. In the usually strong Nahe crowd their wines sometimes get overlooked—unfairly so, in my view, because the quality is beyond doubt.

Dönnhoff had me wavering at first. Hermannshöhle is always quiet in youth, but I’ve never had it this reticent young. With air and time it revealed its full potential. Could be great in ten years.

Worth mentioning

Joh. Bapt. Schäfer’s Goldloch showed the estate’s hallmark crystal-clear, precisely chiselled fruit. Pale, fine, juicy, with an exciting biting phenolic on the palate, I was especially taken by the dark-spiced finish. Very well done.

To finish, Kruger-Rumpf. The second-best collection after SF, with consistently convincing GGs. At the top: Burgberg. Fruit-driven this year, otherwise still a bit closed, but with tremendous pull, tension, excellent balance, salinity, and length. A very fine GG.

I have to admit: the wines of Emrich-Schönleber left me unconvinced and a bit puzzled this time. Halenberg in particular felt surprisingly ripe and a touch tired, without the usual tension and vibration. Still a good GG, but clearly a step down versus previous years.

After the Pfalz, Rheinhessen shows itself this year as the most convincing region for Riesling. The baseline quality is very high, and especially the sites around the Roter Hang clearly benefited from the good water supply in 2024. What I did miss a little was the region’s signature red spice—the wines felt brighter than usual, but in return delivered fantastic length, density, balance, and salinity.

For me, Wittmann presented the strongest collection: a grand Brunnenhäuschen, closely followed by the Morstein—both impressive in depth, precision, and radiance. The new GG from Höllenbrand, however, leaves me with question marks. Stylistically and qualitatively, I don’t see it as a meaningful addition to Wittmann’s otherwise crystal-clear, expressive, and high-class Riesling range.

Battenfeld-Spanier stood out above all with the wines from the Zellertal. For me, H.O.’s best Frauenberg to date, and the Kreuzberg is outstanding in 2024—even if technically it lies across the border in the Pfalz. When we talk about origin, Spanier’s Rieslings are benchmark examples. Few estates in Germany manage to capture terroir this reliably in the glass—steering clear of winemaker stylings like contrived reduction or heavy new oak.

Overall, all sites that usually struggle more with heat and drought profited immensely from the water reserves. You can see that, for example, in Wagner-Stempel’s Höllberg, which strikes me as more harmonious and balanced this year than the Heerkretz.

Also worth mentioning are the wines of Knewitz. Not only do they come in a new design, but they’ve also shifted stylistically: more finesse, more expression, less opulence—though there’s still (to my taste) a bit too much of a winemaker’s signature. That said, the Steinacker is an absolute rock in 2024.

What needs to be said

One word I have to say—hard as it is, because I truly value the people—about Schätzel’s wines. The now fully executed stylistic shift toward flor-influenced wines is unmistakable, as shown by the submitted Pettenthal from 2017. The wine reminds me far more of Sherry or Jura’s Vin Jaune than of place-driven dry Rieslings. Even tasted neutrally, side by side with its neighbors from Pettenthal, the origin is no longer recognizable or distinguishable. The wine is undoubtedly well crafted, but stylistically, it no longer fits—at least for me—within the framework of a Riesling GG.

And this is exactly where I see the VDP on the hook: how can wines of this stylistic profile pass the approval for a Riesling GG? The association must be extremely careful not to lose credibility. If wines so heavily shaped by winemaking style receive GG certification, that opens the floodgates long term: in principle, anything that doesn’t smell of vinegar could be marketed as a GG.

The clear profile of a Riesling GG gets increasingly watered down—and that risks a long-term loss of consumer trust. Burgundy and Bordeaux have commanded high prices for a long time partly because buyers could rely, blindly, on a clearly defined taste profile. If the VDP wants that positioning for GG—and wants to prevent a future where only a few estates occupy the very top price brackets while the GG category as a whole loses luster—decisive action is needed.

This is not a complaint about craftsmanship—some of it is outstanding. But I have to ask: what does it still have to do with origin when flavor is dominated by stylistic choices?

A strong field overall: expressive, substantial wines without heaviness. The vintage’s coolness suits the inherently warm Pfalz very well.

On the Mittelhaardt, Bürklin-Wolf stood out clearly—an assured collection that unites origin and depth. Von Winning’s quality is good, too, but heavy oak obscures many differences; origin recedes. This loops us back to the topic of winemaker stylings (see Rheinhessen). Bassermann-Jordan shows a very homogeneous line in 2024, but often with a similar, almost kitschy nose and little character.

By contrast, Acham-Magin once again dazzles with a collection that embodies the best Pfalz classicism. A true underdog on the Mittelhaardt that delivers every year and still gets far too little attention.

Worth mentioning

A special word on the Rieslings from Kranz. There’s been a clear quality jump over the last two years. Normally I put Kalmit ahead of Kirchberg, since the latter is usually the warmer, drier site. But the cool, wet 2024 did wonders for Kirchberg: the result is a bright, dense, balanced Riesling marked by salt, herbs, and a thoroughly cool line. Absolutely impressive how steeply the quality is climbing here right now. I said it in last year’s report and I’ll gladly repeat it: currently my rising star in the Pfalz.

A solid year for Franconia with a consistently good baseline and a top tier that’s pleasingly strong. The wines are cool, fine, and precise, but overall a touch riper—and thus more approachable—than on the Mosel. That hint of ripeness suits many wines very well.

Yes, the kitsch of some old-guard estates still peeks through here and there, but even there we had positive surprises: the best example is Stein-Berg from Bürgerspital zum Hl. Geist—clear, elegant, and more focused than I expected.

At the top, the tried-and-true triumvirate rules again: Fürst, Luckert, and Weltner set the bar high. Close behind, Weingut am Stein, Wirsching, and Bürgerspital all showed very successful collections. Max Müller I also deserves a shout—two excellent Rieslings performing at eye level with the leaders.

All told, Franconia once again delivers a line-up that makes you want to dig deeper into the region.

Too few Rieslings here really hit GG level. The Remstal sites and estates stand out, though—above all Haidle and Schnaittmann, convincing with expression, precision, and depth.

A look to Baden pays off with Burg Ravensburg. The estate presented two admirably matured Rieslings that stood pleasantly apart from the rest of the field.

Where there’s light, there’s shadow

So what’s the essence after three long, intense, and instructive days? First, a reminder: my impressions are always snapshots and should be read as such. They’re puzzle pieces that click into a bigger picture.

I had already tasted some of the Rieslings shown in Wiesbaden as cask samples during estate visits in early summer. My first impressions were often confirmed—or even reinforced.

About the 2024 vintage

For me, 2024 shows as a homogeneous Riesling vintage overall: few outliers up, few down. The wines are often fine, crystalline, delicate, with racy acidity—though not as piercingly sharp as 2021. That said, some wines—where grapes weren’t picked quite ripe enough—show distinctly sharper, almost green acidity that currently limits drinkability.

It’s a vintage that needs time—the real quality will likely become clear in 5–10 years. At the top, I already prefer 2024 to 2023; it reminds me more of 2014, perhaps even 2004. Sure, 2024 doesn’t bring the instant juiciness and early fun of 2023, but I’m convinced the best ’24s will outshine the best ’23s in 10–15 years for brilliance, finesse, and length.

For consumers, that means: choose carefully. “Sour makes you merry” may work at Halloween—but not when aging great Rieslings. The Mosel, in particular, had it tough in 2024: some wines were too thin, with under-ripe, sharp acidity—a theme that flashed in other regions as well.

Merci

To close, a big thank-you to the VDP and the whole Wiesbaden team around Theresa Olkus and Hilke Nagel for the invitation to this exceptional, flawlessly organized event. One thing I especially liked this year: the VDP changed the flight structure. Instead of sorting primarily by sites, flights were arranged by vintage. That gave us tasters the chance to size up the years more directly—a smart tweak to the tasting setup, in my view.

One last note: just because a wine didn’t make it into my detailed write-ups doesn’t mean it was weak. I tasted all the Rieslings, the Silvaners, and almost all the Pinots, trying to balance objective assessment with personal impression.

You can read my Riesling impressions here.

That’s it for my Wiesbaden take on the VDP GG Pre-Release this year. Over and out.