Two of Balthasar Ress’ dry Rieslings scored highly in June’s Imbibe Magazine panel tasting of German Riesling, judged by a selection of top sommeliers.

Balthasar Ress’ 2012 Hattenheim Engelmannsberg Riesling Trocken (yes, it’s quite a mouthful) was awarded the joint highest score, 88/100, from the entire tasting:

Rudina Arapi of Galvin at Windows noted “An intense combination of lemon, grapefruit, apple and pineapple on the nose and palate, with a touch of ginger and some aromatic herbs, like sage. A fresh and floral wine with great complexity of flavour.”

Carlos Ferreira of The Sign of The Don added that it was “Archetypal Riesling, with fresh, zesty fruit, as well as some apricot and dried fig, and a diesel note, while the palate is steely and slightly saline. Beautifully poised and worth that price tag.”

 The 2015 Von Unserm Riesling also garnered much praise, scoring 79/100:

Carlos Ferreira highlighted its “White grape juice notes, as well as some red and green apples, and a touch of grass with lots of minerality. Very well balanced overall, with a dry, fresh finish.”

Rudina Arapi praised the “Good intensity and complexity, with ripe apple, pineapple and white peach, as well as some candied lemon peel. A very good, well-structured wine with a long finish.”