AJ Adam im Pfarrgarten Riesling Feinherb 2021 is a glorious drop.  There are irresistible citrus aromas of lime and grapefruit with a background of white spice.  The palate matches the nose with the abundance of citrus zipping around the palate.  This combined with the refreshing zesty acidity ensures that, despite residual sugar levels of just under 20g/l, the wine has a textured yet fresh finish.

AJ Adam im Pfarrgarten Riesling Feinherb, with its residual sugar, can work with a bit of heat in your food.  The refreshing nature alongside the sugar makes this a great curry wine.  Try it with seafood currys for the ultimate treat.  All that said this is a German wine so if there is pork on your menu then this wine will match in many ways.  Why not have some Asian Spiced Pork Belly, or spicy schnitzel.

About the Producer

Andreas Adam's winery is in western Germany - in the Drohn valley region - which takes its name from this tributary of the Mosel river. It's around 50km north-east of Trier, so not too far from the border with Luxembourg.

The steep, southwest-facing Hofberg was first recognised as a premium vineyard site back in 1868, and its fame continued into the 1950s and 60s. However, some of the vineyards were later abandoned as younger generations moved to the cities rather than farm the steep slopes - Andreas's parents included. However, Andreas took a renewed interest in his family's vineyard whilst he was studying at Geisenheim University, and he took work experience at some other notable German estates. His first official vintage was in 2000, aged just 21, from grapes grown in the one hectare vineyard that had belonged to his grandfather.

Andreas invested in vineyards in the Dhron valley when land was inexpensive, as the slopes were steep and hard to cultivate. He now works alongside his sister Barbara (who also graduated from Geisenheim University in 2013), and they produce a fantastic range of Rieslings from 5 hectares of vineyards, divided into numerous parcels across Drohn and Piesport. Soils here are predominantly grey-blue slate and quartz.

All harvesting is by hand, with thorough selection in the vineyard and minimal intervention. Only natural yeasts are used and wines are left on their lees for extended periods. The winery employs a combination of stainless steel tanks plus traditional oak fuder (1,000 litres) and halbfuder (500 litres).

Vineyard and Winery

The grapes for this wine come from part of the famous established Hofberg vineyard where the vine age is between 30 to 50 years old. These are planted on the flatter, lower part of the hill around the ancient stone rectory building which gives this wine its name, Im Pfarrgarten.

The grapes are all hand-harvested and put through a thorough selection process both in the vineyard and upon arrival in the winery.  A.J. Adam employ a minimal intervention approach and use only natural yeasts.  One fermentation is complete the wines are left on their fine lees for extended periods increasing texture and complexity in the final product. There is an Old World, New World combination of stainless steel tanks plus traditional oak fermentation vessels ranging in size between 1000 and 500 litres.