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Tasting note
The 2024 Himmelreich marks a new chapter in the history of Odinstal: from the leased limestone vineyard sites in Herxheim am Berg comes a Riesling that stands out pleasingly from the cool wines grown at 350 metres altitude in the monopole site. Andreas Schumann remains true to his principles – spontaneous fermentation, one year of ageing on the full lees, no filtration – and lets the soil speak. The result is a dry, composed wine of remarkable aromatic depth, one that knows no haste and reveals ever new facets in the glass.
- Colour & appearance
- Deep golden yellow with a silky-matt sheen – even visually a promise of density and ripeness.
- Nose
- A kaleidoscope that defies any attempt to pin it down: light tobacco, dried quince, cashews and green tea meet fully ripe peach and sea buckthorn, alongside hop shoots and a hint of white nougat. Like an oriental bazaar, the aromas shift in constant flux.
- Palate
- Flowing across the palate with great composure and balance: ripe, melting fruit in the extract, flanked by spicy, autumnal notes. Despite its rather light body, it is multi-layered and deep, contoured by an aromatically firm phenolic grip that gives the wine its backbone.
- Finish
- Spicy and warm, with plenty of dried fruit and a long finish that lingers for minutes afterwards.
- Terroir & origin
- The vines stand in the Herxheimer Himmelreich on Tertiary limestone and loess, planted in 1978, 1983 and 1985 – roots now over forty years old. The Demeter-certified estate itself lies high above Wachenheim as a self-contained organism, surrounded by nutrient-poor meadows, mixed forest and an old basalt quarry.
- Grape variety & vinification
- Pure Riesling, harvested on 29 September 2024, pressed directly and spontaneously fermented. One year of ageing on the full lees in 600-litre casks, bottled unfiltered with around 30 mg/l total sulphur. Bone-dry: 3.5 g/l residual sugar at 6.2 g/l acidity.
- Food recommendations
- The spicy depth and firm phenolics call for substance: pan-fried pike-perch with quince, roasted cauliflower with cashews, autumn mushrooms on polenta or mature hard cheese all find an equal partner here.
- Special features
- Only 1,866 bottles were produced – a limited debut from the newly leased Herxheim vineyard sites, demonstrating how Schumann’s non-intervention in the cellar and the limestone soil together yield a Riesling of unusual, almost meditative complexity.
