Hermann Ludes Thornicher Ritsch Riesling Spatlese Trocken 2020
(Mosel, Germany)
Regular price $45.00 Sale price $37.97 Save $7.03
Julian Ludes (pronounced “LOOD-es”) has been working with his uncle since 2017. His grandfather Hermann Ludes started this eponymous estate in the 1950s. Located in the village Thörnich, which is located in an upper-section of the Mosel, far away from the famous “Hollywood Mile” of the Mosel, Thörnich is legendary for shaping wines that are raw and tensile; the wines of Hermann Ludes especially can be brutally structured. In other words these are not easy wines. The founder’s son and Julian’s uncle, also named Hermann Ludes, speak no English and have made, over the decades, exactly zero attempts to market or to try and placate any whims or fashions, customers, exporters, importers or journalists, hence Ludes has flown under the radar for decades.
About the Vineyard:
The Ritsch is a monument, a vineyard carved into the rock with old, partly ungrafted Riesling vines. Slate and wood in bizarre formations: the Wingert poles, on which the vines have been trained individually for centuries, rise into the sky like the spearheads of a giant army. The peculiarity of the climate and expression is explained by the location of the vineyard, bordered by the side valleys of the Karlbach and the Salm. Julian concentrates 100% on the sensitive development of the various plots and thus shapes the style of the impressive Ritsch: delicate, light and timeless.
Ratings & Reviews:
92 Points - Mosel Fine Wines:
"The 2020er Thörnicher Ritsch Riesling Spätlese Trocken was made from fruit picked at 88° Oechsle in a prime vineyard situated in the central part of the vineyard. It offers a gorgeous nose made of reductive elements (nut, wet stone, spices) which gradually give way to beautifully refreshing scents of herbs and spices. The wine is beautifully playful on the palate and leaves a stunningly fragrant and feather-light feel in the long and refined finish. This dry wine will prove irresistible to lovers of feather-light and fragrant expressions of the genre! Packing so many flavors into 11.5% of alcohol strength remains one of the great features of dry Mosel Riesling! 2022-2028."