Okonomierat Rebholz

A great name in German wine circles and the leading estate of the Pfalz, Okonomierat Rebholz represents the region at its most uncompromising, precise and pure. If the Pfalz is often known for producing full-bodied, fruit forward wines, Hansjorg Rebholz's wines come as a crisp pure breath of fresh air. Never chaptalising or de-acidifying, nor allowing his wines to soften through malolactic fermentation, the Rebholz style aims to be as transparent a translation of vintage and site as possible; the house style, honed now over three generations, is bone dry, crystal clear, pure and unadulterated. Possessing some of the finest vineyard sites in the Pfalz on a smorgasbord of different soils, Hansjorg and his team craft a broad range of wines. Riesling sits at the core making up 40% of the plantings, supported by some of Germany’s finest and most focussed Pinot Blancs, a concise selection of top level Spatburgunders and some truly classy, balanced Sekts. All of the dry white wines below are fermented and aged in steel, with a minimum of intervention, resting upon fine lees until bottling, which is done without fining and the lightest of filtrations. The results, naturally possessing high levels of CO2, are long, intense, pure wines that often require, and are always capable of, extended ageing.

2023 Vintage: Valentin Rebholz talks of 2023 as a fresh and juicy vintage with acidity levels on the restrained side of normal and alcohols at a digestible 12%, noting that unlike the cooler German wine regions, the Sudpfalz was not affected by the concentrating frost that year. The 2023s at Rebholz have a sophisticated, light, spice-inflected feel with fruit tastes that run from verbena, tea and citrus to freshly cut apples and white peach, without ever verging into yellow. Interestingly, the village-level Ortswein, named according to soil type, all come entirely from the Grosse Lagen and are effectively a first selection of the GGs. This is a precise, sculpted range that will appeal to lovers of pure wines with energy and vitality.