Daniel Vollenweider - Riesling Goldgrube 'Aurum' 2020

The 2020er Goldgrube Aurum, as it is referred to on the consumer label, is a legally dry wine (with 3.4 g/l of residual sugar) made from fruit picked on the oldest, over 100-year-old un-grafted vines in the vineyard and which was fermented for 18 months in cask before being bottled (hence the late AP number). It has a gorgeous and hugely spicy yet still restrained nose of minty herbs, lozenge, almond, licorice, lime, and lavender. The wine starts off on the creamy and comparatively light side yet built up its presence and structure as it develops. It becomes even intense and almost powerful. The finish has more lightness and finesse but is also immensely long and energetic.

Mosel Fine Wines

After there was no 2019 due to a lack of quantity (just as in 2021), the 2020 Wolfer Goldgrube Riesling Aurum is a single-pole pre-selection from ungrafted vines. The wine opens with enormously concentrated fruit that is ripe and elegant and open enough to integrate the slate terroir. Full-bodied, multidimensional and full of energy and tension, this is a highly complex and expressive yet refined and persistently salty Riesling from very old vines, yet it's far from ready to be enjoyed. I therefore echo the reflections of team Vollenweider and suggest keeping the wine on the fine lees for another couple of months. When I tasted this on October 31, 2021, it was originally planned to be bottled the following week, but it's possible this wine won't be bottled until spring of next year.