Description
Paul Anheuser, Niederhäuser Riesling
When you taste the explosion of savory fruit and distinct Nahe minerality in today’s brilliant 2003 Riesling, one thought will occur: You’ll wish you’d scooped up more, especially when recalling you paid just over a dollar for each year it matured in Anheuser’s pitch-black cellar.
For some time now, we’ve feasted on Paul Anheuser’s secret trove of library releases—even a 50-year-old Auslese—but when it comes to affordability, this must be considered for the first-place podium. For one, 14 consecutive generations of Anheusers have farmed the steep slopes of Germany’s Nahe, making them one of the world’s most seasoned and prestigious wine families. Secondly, today’s exceptional Riesling is a blend of their estate vines within a single village (Niederhäusen). And thirdly, 18 years of undisturbed maturation has turned a lush, off-dry Riesling into a multi-dimensional, wickedly savory treat. There’s a reason sommeliers lose their minds over mature Riesling values, but it’s all-out chaos when one can be had for $25. We can allow up to 12 bottles per person today until the inevitable sellout.
The Anheusers trace their ancestry in the village of Bad Kreuznach to the 1600s; many of their heirloom vineyards have been in their possession for generations. The family has been here so long, they’re considered the very first in the entire Nahe region to plant vineyards solely to Riesling. But despite their extensive track record, their operation remains a humble one, and is still entirely staffed by family. They have also built a fine reputation in the Nahe for stockpiling vintages in their cellar, as today’s offer so clearly illustrates.
For centuries, the central villages of the Nahe have dominated the region in terms of quality and renown. It’s where you’ll find the famous wine towns of Traisen, Norheim, Schlossböckelheim, Oberhausen (Dönnhoff!), and Niederhäusen, the latter of which is the entire source for today’s sensational back-vintage gem. Farmed entirely from family-owned parcels and harvested by hand, Anheuser’s 2003 Niederhäuser Riesling fermented and subsequently aged in neutral oak casks. It then matured in their dark, cool, vaulted cellars for 17 years.
Some of you may have been quick enough to snag our 2002 offering of Anheuser’s Niederhäuser Riesling back in 2019, so you’re probably wondering how this compares. Generally speaking, 2003 was a warm vintage in Germany which resulted in ripe, concentrated berries, and subsequently, richer wines. If you would’ve tasted this upon initial release in 2005 it would’ve effused unctuous, opulent textures of candied citrus and tropical fruits but today, after nearly two decades of evolution, it is a completely different wine. In an all-purpose stem, the wine reveals a deep golden hue with a bright green tint and slowly rolls out mature notes of quince, yellow peach, bruised apricots, yellow apple, honey, petrol, damp mushroom, crushed rock, exotic spice, lemongrass, and green mango peel. The medium-bodied palate is soft and surprisingly structured, and the residual sugar expertly conceals itself behind strong layers of spicy minerality, pronounced acidity, and ultra-savory fruits. This is a perfect wine to open now and enjoy with your Riesling-geek friends, or anyone who’s curious about the evolution of wine. Enjoy now and over the next 5-7 years.
