Hoffman-Simon

  Wonderful new discovery making fine Piesporters at sensible prices! Modern, spritzy style closer to Kesselstatt than Reuscher-Haart. Remarkably successful 1999s and a bonafide masterpiece in 2000. They’re not as leesy-plump as Reuscher-Haart but more so than, say, Kesselstatt. Not as squeaky-clean as Kesselstatt, but more so than Reuscher-Haart! In Piesport there are two ways you can go. You can make lavish, sensual voodoo-wines that barely taste like Riesling at all, or you can make wines as compact as this terroir will give—which isn’t very. Hoffmann’s wines lean in the compact direction, focusing the Piesport fruit but not resisting it.

•Vineyard area: 9.2 hectares
•Annual production: 4,200 cases
•Top sites: Piesporter Goldtröpfchen, Maringer Honigberg
•Soil types: Slate
•Grape varieties: 67% Riesling, 28% Müller-Thurgau, 5% Regent