The Tb points given to this wine are the world’s most valid and most up-to-date evaluation of the quality of the wine. Tastingbook points are formed by the Tastingbook algorithm which takes into account the wine ratings of the world's best-known professional wine critics, wine ratings by thousands of tastingbook’s professionals and users, the generally recognised vintage quality and reputation of the vineyard and winery. Wine needs at least five professional ratings to get the Tb score. Tastingbook.com is the world's largest wine information service which is an unbiased, non-commercial and free for everyone.
Wine Description
The Story
Pursuant to the principle of the great Châteaux in the Bordeaux that do not market the wines under the names of their individual vineyard sites, we understand the Geheimrat "J" as the 'Grand vin' of our Oestrich estate. Great wines of up to 15 different 'Erstes Gewächs' vineyards cultivated by us are the basis of the assemblage of every vintage, and the resulting product is the very best of all our dry wines.
An extreme restriction of quantities, late picking by hand in several tries, i.e. multiple harvest runs, in connection with slow fermentation and long maturing on the fine yeast in the barrel ensure premium quality and elegance. In the Geheimrat "J", the finesse and racy character of the mineral soil sites around Rüdesheim and Geisenheim are uniquely combined with the creaminess of the loam soils from the Middle Rheingau. Since 1983, we have been producing this wine pursuant to our internal standards that are even more stringent than today's official requirements for our 'Erste Gewächse'. With its elegant, tall Rheingau bottle and the exceptional labels and capsule, it is unique also in appearance. Let it rest in the bottle for three to six years before enjoying it as a perfect accompaniment with a sophisticated dinner. Depending on the vintage, it has a maturing potential of more than 15 years.
Wine Information
2007 Growing season: Especially the Rheingau region was one of the winners of the warm year 2007. Similar to the situation in the Moselle region, a record-breaking early shoot, a balanced summer, as well as a dry and sunny fall brought cristall clear, healthy and ripe Riesling wines.
Must weight: 82° Oechsle - 312° Oechsle
Acid value: 6,8 - 13,0 g/l
Harvest period: 18th September - 19th December
The wines: Fruity wines with a juicy acidity.
Highlights: Icewine from the Geisenheimer Rothenberg on the 21st of December; Trockenbeerenauslesen with a must weight up tp 312° Oe ( german record).
Vintage 2007
Germany Vintage Report 2007 / The phenomena of climate change and the resulting global warming also affected the year 2007. Once again, meteorological observations made it possible to establish record data: after a winter that was clearly too mild, the Spring weather in April and May was extremely warm. Additionally, although summer was often not very "summer", temperatures recorded during the growing season were the highest since record keeping began (1884), even breaking the record set in 2003.
Naturally, these climatic conditions had a considerable impact on the vines. A very hot April led to an extremely early explosion. Warm temperatures continued into May, so the vines flowered during the second half of the month – the earliest flowering since time immemorial. The heat lasted until early June and by mid-June the vegetation was more than three weeks ahead of schedule. The rather average weather during the rest of the summer reduced this lead. Nevertheless, the grapes began to ripen in the Rheingau on August 3 – precisely from the “record year” 2003. The difference is that the development of the grapes (after early flowering) continued more slowly and evenly , thanks to a better distribution of sunshine and precipitation than in 2003.
Due to this perfect weather regime, the vines had an optimal supply of water and nutrients, and despite the relatively early harvest (due to early flowering), the Riesling grapes could remain on the vines for a long time – an important factor for this grape variety.
Even the earliest harvested grapes had exceptionally high extract values (even higher than in 2005 and 2006) and showed perfect physiological maturity and well-developed aromas. As such, the early harvest yielded fine Kabinett and light Spätlese qualities which will be bottled as Qualitätswein (Gutsriesling).
Overall, ideal weather conditions allowed us to smoothly extend the harvest over seven weeks and selectively harvest the best grapes for the other Prädikat wines. For the 19th year in a row, we were able to harvest all Prädikat, including Trockenbeerenauslese with up to 256 degrees Oechsle, at our Grand Cru sites Kiedricher Gräfenberg and Kiedricher Turmberg.
In addition to the exceptionally high quality of the 2007 vintage, the wonderful climatic conditions of the year allowed us to obtain a higher yield. After five short years, this brings us back to our long-term average.