Normally only the cellar masters in Champagne do something like that.
In contrast to almost all other winegrowers and winemakers, they not only mix different grape varieties and grapes from different locations to cuvées.
No, they also combine wines from different vintages, sometimes dozens.
And because this is an art that has made Champagne world-famous, there is also a special term for it: assemblage.
Basically, it is nothing more than what is known in German as “Verschnitt” – but of course it sounds much nicer.
Peter Badenhop
Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.
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Jochen Dreissigacker isn't talking about assemblage, but the winemaker from Bechtheim in Rheinhessen has been inspired by Champagne.
On a trip to the sparkling wine region, he was impressed by the working methods of the cellar masters there and, above all, by the depth and complexity that the wines get from the merging of different vintages.
With his 2016 vintage, he then tried the process with some of his own wines - and thus created his Vintages line.
There are now white and red editions, with the white consisting exclusively of Riesling (in the first edition from the three vintages 2017, 2018 and 2019, in the second also with 2020), the red from Pinot Noir and St. Laurent two years (in the first edition from 2016 and 2017, in the second from 2017 and 2018).
This is actually as unusual in German viticulture as it sounds - and makes for an extraordinary drinking experience, especially with the white vintages.
The vintages, with their different characteristics and degrees of maturity, give the Riesling cuvée a remarkable complexity: the 2020 contributes mineral freshness, the 2019 and 2018 ensure elegance and balance, and the 2017 brings the first fine aromas of maturity.
The Vintages is a typical Riesling, but one with a very unique, harmonious character and a very long finish.
The two vintage wines are available for EUR 17.50 each in the winery's online shop at
www
.dreissigacker-wein.de
.
bath.