TN: 2019 Keller "von der Fels" - first impressions

2019 Keller „von der Fels“

First impressions of 2019 von der Fels which will arrive soon on the german market. 2019 impresses by balance&tenderness and extract. The acidity is sublime and good integrated, definitely not harsh. Typical for Keller wines is purity&precision&clarity and in case of "von der Fels“ with the familiar flavors of flowers/herbs, lemon/grapefruite and limestone. Reminds me on 2001 and 2004, fair to say time will tell.

Such a value for 17-18€ in Germany. Don’t miss it!

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Cheers,
Martin

Still a value but unfortunately double in the U.S.!

How would you compare it to 2018?

I would say more sublime&delicate, with more extract and with more clarity than 2018 incl. a more polished&elegant acidity. No comparison to any vintage since 2010, rather a vintage from the good old days.

A terrific bottle, year in and year out.

Pricing remains attractive – though it does keep climbing…

Martin, some say this is GG material. What say you? What I love is that it doesn’t require GG cellar slumber.

I have been buying since the very fist vintage and buy all of the GG’s every year. I would sayit is if you are talking about Kirchspiel or Hubacker. And in recent years KP seems to be narrowing the gap. According to John Gilman he declassified an entire barrel of Kirschpiel into the 2018 which I think is an outstanding wine.




Of course, as the idea of von der Fels is to make a wine from GG plots based on younger vines. The old vines goes into the GGs. BTW, its the 20th vintage of von der Fels and a barrel of “Abtserde” went into the 19er for depth and minerality.

YES, other estates would maybe bottle this declassified barrel of Kirchspiel as a GG.

Note: von der Fels will be more expensive this year due to the 25% wine tax imposed by Mr Trump. It’s of course for all European wines.

Closer to $40/bottle here. But the quality seems to be there year in and year out…

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I was wondering about recommendation for aging. I have one bottles of 2009 and several from 2012 and 2013. Thanks for your advice!

Cheers,

Hal

Good info Martin, thank you. Like others I can’t wait to get some. I did take delivery of 6 mags of the 2018 Von Der Fels today, I love it. So it sounds like you may prefer the 2019 to the 2018, or just different ?

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Adam,

both vintages are great at the estate Keller and to buy MGs from 2018 is a good decision. BTW, von der Fels age very well.

Fair to say 2019 shows a bit more finesse and clarity than 2018.

Stay healthy,
Martin

Others will have more experience but I opened a 2007 last month that was stellar. Still with a little freshness but starting to develop its breadth.

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Great thank you Martin, be well.

von der Fels is the most underrated wine of the Keller portfolio“ MoselFineWines

Of course von der Fels age well, as is based on Grand Cru limestone soil. At the beginning of the year a vertical of vdF took place, 2004-2018.

2009 was great, highlights were 01,04,07,10,11(!), 13,16,17.

You will find a detailed report chez Mosel Fine Wines Issue 49, it’s free.

http://www.moselfinewines.com/


Cheers,
Martin

There are also 2 TNs at cellartracker:

MAHATMA CHIANTI LIKES THIS WINE:
92 points
May 15, 2020 - This is unreal! Highest quality Riesling performance for painless drinking price level…
Please consider everything FC1910 wrote, to be true.
Cool, herbal, mineral and crystal clear, electifying, energetic and very long…
I can´t remember a Keller “von der Fels” being THIS good in THIS early stage AND showing THIS huge potential at the same time.

Please just consider two factors:

  1. GERMAN RIESLING from 2019 reveals more and more to be phantastic!
  2. FAMILY KELLER is usually capable of making the best out of every vintage.

Comment
FC1910 LIKES THIS WINE:
92 points
May 8, 2020 - WOW, got some bottles right from Dalsheim,
so pnp one of these, unbelievable tension in a Gutswein (Village), some (minor) GG from other estates are in lesser condition young,
nothing but great Riesling purity, all about mineralic stonelicking, limy as limy can be, just a whiff of grapefruit, a delicate delicious one, is in the background,
light- to midbodied, mouthwatering and addictive wine juice, lingering very convincing finish, really great QPR, 17,50€ ex Weingut, highly recommended! Will improve over a decade(+) for sure! (**-?), 91-93(+) potential

P.S. 2019 is the 20. vintage of von der Fels

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Love the stray tail in the picture!

For those in the know: will Keller stop releasing von der Fels once the vines are old enough to go into the GGs or will he keep making it?