11th July, 2016 by Darren Smith
2. Johannes Sinß – Weingut Sinß, Nahe
One of the standouts from Stuart Pigott’s Generation Riesling seminar, 29-year-old Johannes Sinß from Windersheim in Nahe made his first vintage in 2010 and, according to Pigott, has been getting better every year since then.
Working from a 12ha family estate, organic from the 2016 vintage, Johannes represents the continuation of 200 years of family winemaking history. About 90% of the wine he makes is from Riesling and Burgundy varieties, with some Scheurebe and Muller-Thurgau on top.
The Sinß vineyards are in a relatively cool area along a valley side of Nahe around Hünsruck. The winery is gravity-fed in order to optimise grape quality and 60-65% of production undergoes wild fermentation.
Johannes says he aims to make ‘authentic’ wines expressing the place where the grapes were grown and his wines are clearly characterised by elegance, mineral intensity and powerful structure.
“Every vineyard has its own personality so you have to try to make these vineyards better known,” he says. There are five vineyard sites and he makes two single vineyard bottlings: Römerberg (red sandstone for Riesling) and Rosenberg (for Spätburgunder).
Exports are….