2021 Hexamer Riesling 'Quarzit'
Nahe, Germany
We love wines named after rocks! 100% Riesling from Meddersheimer in Nahe from vineyards rich in Quarztite. This wine has the perfect balance of sweetness and minerality -- pair this with spicy foods or have it as a slightly sweet aperitif.
Tasting Notes: Bright pure aromas of honey, stone fruits, apples, and a flinty-stone minerality. The residual sweetness give the wine a round, lush mouthfeel, but the long finish is racy and spicy with citrus and wet stones. Not your grandma's sweet riesling! This has serious complexity that belies the price point.
About Hexamer: Harald Hexamer’s dedication is seen both his work in the vineyards and in the cellars. Hexamer holds 7.5 hectares in the Meddersheimer Rheingrafenberg, a steep south-east facing slope of red sandstone with deposits of quartzite, which is known for producing especially small berries. Schlossböckelheimer In den Felsen (“In the Rocks”) is another small vineyard at 6.5 hectares, of which the Hexamer’s own 4.5. The vineyard is markedly steep (70º) with south facing slopes composed of rocky porphyry and produces wines characterized by softer acidity and a subtle smokiness.
Hexamer’s meticulous work in the vineyard is marked by pruning to control yields (“often six to eight bunches per wine”) and hand-harvesting. Hexamer handles the wine as little as possible: no dosage is used, inoculations are made only with native yeasts, and all wines are whole-cluster pressed. 95% of all Rieslings at Hexamer are made in stainless steel and racked only once, three to six weeks after fermentation is complete. When tasting the wines, one sees the purity of the vineyards, the intensity of minerality, and remarkable clarity. Hexamer’s wines are balanced in the ultraviolet spectrum; they’re steely, acid-driven, clean, and transparent.
92 points, James Suckling. "What a seductive fruit-salad nose this animating and elegant, medium-dry Riesling has! Very clean and bright with a touch of tannin at the finish giving it structure."
91 points, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate. "The 2019 Riesling Quarzit is bright, pure and flinty on the stony/dusty but also charmingly fruity and very delicate picture-book nose. Round and lush on the palate, this is a charming but tensioned and grippy Riesling from Meddersheim. Due to the residual sugar, which is somewhere between medium dry and medium sweet, this is not an ascetic but tensioned and thrilling Riesling that delivers the quartzite terroir in an accessible style. The sweetness is more palatable compared to the Porphyr but for good reasons: The minor grip and complex acidity would be too challenging for a wine at this precise point. I am sure it will be fabulous after some years of bottle aging. To me, this is another picture-book Riesling form Harald Hexamer. Bottled with 11% alcohol. Tasted from AP 15 20 in January 2021."