Keller Riesling Niersteiner Hipping Grosses Gewächs 2018

95 points John Gilman (View From the Cellar): "The Hipping vineyard has about thirty to forty centimeters of topsoil before one reaches the red slate, so this was a tad less affected by the drought conditions than the “naked rock” of the Pettenthal in 2018. The Hipping GG this year is gorgeous in every way, shape and form, with the celestial bouquet offering up scents of blood orange, tangerine, lemongrass, a beautiful base of slate, smoky overtones, wild yeasts and a topnote of dried flowers. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and laser-like, with a superb core, great mineral undertow, snappy acids and a very long, poised and simply electric finish. Sheer brilliance. 2028-2075. (Mar/Apr 2019)"

95 points David Schildknecht (Vinous): "Once again, this bottling represents the mid-slope vines in Keller’s Hipping, fruit from those above and below having been directed to the corresponding Kabinett and (70% Hipping) Niersteiner cuvée. Musky, bittersweet, iris-like perfume haunts the nose, accompanied by scents of white peach, lemon and orange, as well as smoky and crushed stone notes. The firm, full but by no means heavy palate delivers tang and piquancy of peach close to the core, a pronounced sense of mineral suffusion, zesty citricity and inner-mouth persistence of floral perfume. Bite of mustard seed and pungency of green tea add further invigoration and complexity to a vibrantly sustained finish strikingly strong on stony, smoky and alkaline notes, but unfailing in its duty to refresh. From his prime parcels in Hipping and Pettenthal, Keller is turning out the most memorable Nierstein Rieslings since the many glorious pre-1980 decades of Franz Karl Schmitt’s eponymous estate, from which Keller acquired them. Drink: 2020-2036. (Nov 2020)"