Heußler Riesling

The wines of Christian Heußler have long been on my radar. His winery is based in Rhodt unter Rietburg, a village I photographed from the top of the Rietburg chair-lift a few years ago (see opposite). As is very much the case throughout the Pfalz, the soils in and around Rhodt are a veritable patchwork. Apart from limestone, red clay, loam, sand and skeletal sandstone, one of Herr Heußler's plots has granite underfoot.

Weingut Heußler, Riesling Spätlese trocken "Granit" 2010, Pfalz, Germany
According to the back label, the plot in question is to be found in the Rhodter Schlossberg vineyard located directly below Villa Ludwigshöhe, a classical Italianate villa perched at the top of the incline.

These short notes are purely from memory.


Vivid yellow to pale yellow in appearance. This has spice, red fruit (redcurrant, strawberry) and earthy tones on the nose. Translated onto the palate, the impression is of sweet, luscious grapes with some of the aforementioned spice. No sign of any granite. Given the resplendently bright definition of its colour, you would expect this to have more than its still-reasonable 12.5% abv.

This Riesling forfeits a little bit of elegance on account of its shortish finish and slightly rough, rustic mouthfeel. Nevertheless, this latter characteristic that also lends it a certain charm. All in all, still pretty good and a wine I would like to revisit in future.