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Hors Bordeaux tasting: additional tasting notes

16 September 2025 By Colin Hay

db‘s Bordeaux correspondent Colin Hay rounds up his La Place de Bordeaux hors Bordeaux tasting notes with a few that escaped his initial round up, including the 2021 and 2014 vintage release from Viña Maquis and an 100-point Austrian Trockenbeerenauslese.

Resting dusty wine bottles stacked on wooden racks in basement. Elite collectible expensive wine in cellar

Spain (red)

Spanish releases (red)	Vintage	Region	New?	Rating
Tapias de Marqués de Riscal	2022	Rioja	No	98

Tapias de Marqués de Riscal 2022 (Rioja DOC; 100% Tempranillo sourced entirely from one of Marqués de Riscal’s best vineyard plots, the Finca Las Tapias; 15% alcohol). Gloriously inviting aromatically, with radiant herb-tinged dark berry fruits and an almost wild mountain heathery note combining so well with the mixed dry spices and black and rose peppercorns. There’s a little plum stone too and walnut shell. The tannins are incredibly gracious on the entry, but they gain in granularity as the wine evolves over the palate. There’s a lot of wine in this bottle! Indeed, it’s something of a baby monster with incredible aging potential. It really needs to be found its place in the coolest, darkest corner of the cellar and left for at least a couple of decades to reveal all of its glories. It’s going to be extraordinary but I don’t think I’ll be around to see it at its best. 98.

Chile

Chilean releases	Vintage	Region	1^st release?	Rating
Vigna Maquis Viola	2021	Colchagua	No	95
Vigna Maquis Viola	2014	Colchagua	No	96+
Vigna Maquis Franco	2021	Colchagua	No	96
Vigna Maquis Franco	2014	Colchagua	No	96

Vigna Maquis Viola 2021 (Colchagua Valley; 89% Carménère; 7% Cabernet Sauvignon; 4% Cabernet Franc; aged for 24 months in French oak barrels; pH 3.28; 13.5% alcohol; Eric Boissenot is the consultant). Even aromatically this gives the impression of being creamier and richer than the 2020, the floral elements a little bulbier and the spicier and more peppery notes more evident, the wild herbal notes of the 2020 a little more restrained. The green Szechuan peppercorns of the 2020 are replaced here their red cousins and this is altogether fierier and more spicy. In the mouth this is quite ample and glossily-textured on the attack with impressively svelte and polished yet still forceful tannins that draw the berry and stone fruits back to a well-defined central spine. We finish on salted liquorice. 95.

Vigna Maquis Viola 2014 (Colchagua Valley; 88% Carménère; 12% Cabernet Franc; pH 3.63; 13.5% alcohol; Eric Boissenot is the consultant). As gorgeous as it is explosive aromatically, with a fascinating note of fresh sage dropped in smoking butter alongside the lavender, wild rosemary and dark berry fruits, damson and a touch of sweet spice. Tense, taut and with still quite grippy tannins that break up the flow of the wine as it touches the tongue and the cheeks, bringing additional tactile interest. Very lively and engaging, still incredibly youthful and with lots of fascinating detail. A joy. 96+.

Vigna Maquis Franco 2021 (Colchagua Valley; 91% Cabernet Franc; 9% Cabernet Sauvignon; aged in frenck oak barrels, 35% of them new; pH 3.49; 13.8% alcohol; Eric Boissenot is the consultant). Unlike the 2022 vintage, there is no Carménère in this and rather more Cabernet Sauvignon as a consequence, but we still have here something defined essentially by the Cabernet Franc. Very pure and very herb-tinged in its effusive and essential florality. Mulberries, blueberries and redcurrants, a little black cherry skin, wild rosemary and a hint of lilac and peony. There are green Szechuan peppercorns notes too and a little wild sage. Pure, focussed and precise with a very well-defined and strictly linear central spine, grainy but spherical Cabernet tannins with increasing grip towards the more lifted and aerial finish. This is very refined, or at least it will be; for now it just needs time in a cool dark cellar. 96.

Vigna Maquis Franco 2014 (Colchagua Valley; 100% Cabernet Franc; 14% alcohol; Eric Boissenot is, once again, the consultant here). Beautifully expressive aromatically, very lifted and intensely floral – peony, mimosa, blueberry and bramble, black pepper, black chocolate and a touch of clove and rosemary. This feels like a vine from a high-altitude vineyard and simply exudes freshness. Pure, precise, linear and with plenty of focus and a very well-defined central spine. This is very youthful, too, with plenty of grip from the finely-grained but very tactile tannins and a lovely fluid and dynamic mid-palate. A wine for the decanter – as it draws in the air it becomes softer, creamier and more relaxed. Excellent. 96.

French (white)

French releases (white)	Vintage	Region	New?	Rating
Domaine de la Pierre Gravée Inspirations	2022	Loire	Yes	94+
Domaine de la Pierre Gravée Momentum	2022	Loire	Yes	95

Domaine de la Pierre Gravée Inspirations 2022 (Vouvray; 100% Chenin Blanc; 13.5% alcohol; from 50 year old vines on a distinctive and exceptional terroir of flint and clay; no malolactic fermentation to keep all the tension; aged for 18 months in oak barrels; an exclusivity of The Wine Merchant). Named to honour those – including the late, great Jacky Blot – who encouraged and inspired Philippe Guyonnet both to purchase the property and to produce this exceptional wine from its unique terroir. Like all of these wines, this opens graciously and its needs aeration (but my advice would be to taste this first before decanting it, to appreciate the sheer complexity of the wine). At first we note sesame seed and white pear. There’s a creaminess and a natural richness here, but also a very evident and impressive crystallinity. In the mouth there is a certain amplitude but despite the concentration and impact there is never a hit of fatness – though plenty of viscosity. I love the stony, flinty minerality that is, if anything, more evident in this than the Momentum cuvée. With aeration we pick up notes of nougat, confit fruits and peanut brittle as peach and peach skin intermingle with the white pear and crisp apple from the aromatics. There’s a little hint of wild floral honey. Above all, this is crisp and fresh, tense and taut, with all the natural richness from the old vine Chenin Blanc taken in charge by the salinity and acidity that punches its way through the heart of this wine giving it such energy in the mouth. 94+.

Domaine de la Pierre Gravée Momentum 2022 (Vouvray; 100% Chenin Blanc; 13.5% alcohol; from 50 year old vines on a distinctive and exceptional terroir of flint and clay; aged for 24 months on its lees in French oak and then for a further 6 months in bottle before release; an exclusivity of The Wine Merchant). This is richer, fuller and a little more ample and more serious in a way – and this is a wine that probably does really need a decanter at this stage (though, once again, to fully appreciate the complexity it helps first to taste this before decanting). Candlewax, frangipane, grated almonds and a panoply of fresh herbs. Eucalyptus too. A little mimosa. Then, just as you start to take all of that in, the fruit starts to arrive – pêches de vignes, confit fruits, white pear, lime and a little lime zest, with a hint of Mirabelle plums. And then the florality establishes itself with gorgeous notes of fresh rose petals and rosewater filling the glass. Intensely saline and flinty in its minerality, this is a fabulously exquisite wine – with just as much in common with a Chassagne-Montrachet 1er cru or even a fresher Corton-Charlemagne than with many of its appellation neighbours. 95.

Germany (white)

German releases (white)	Vintage	Region	1^st release?	Rating
Domäne Serrig Vogelsang Kabinett	2022	Mosel	No	95
Domäne Serrig Vogelsang Grosse Lage	2022	Mosel	No	97
Schloss Johannisberg Kabinett Orangelack	2024	Rheingau	No	97
Schloss Johannisberg Trocken Goldlak	2022	Rheingau	No	98
Zach, Bergweiler-Prüm Erben, Dr Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling GG Dry Vieilles Vignes	2019	Mosel	No	95
Zach, Bergweiler-Prüm Erben, Dr Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett Vieilles Vignes	2019	Mosel	No	95
Zach, Bergweiler-Prüm Erben, Dr Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Vieiles Vignes	2019	Mosel	No	98
Gunther Steinmetz Wintricher Geierslay Kabinett	2024	Mosel	No	96
Gunther Steinmetz Neumagner Rosengärtchen GG Riesling	2024	Mosel	No	96
Gunther Steinmetz Piesporter Treppschen GG Riesling	2024	Mosel	No	97
Battenfeld Spanier Mölsheim Auf Dem Kalkofen Riesling	2023	Rheinhessen	No	94+
Weingut Robert Weil Monte Nostrum Riesling Trocken	2023	Rheingau	No	97

Domäne Serrig Vogelsang Kabinett (Markus Molitor) 2022 (Serriger Vogelsang, Mosel; 100% Riesling; from a legendary estate established by Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1904 on the incredibly steep slate slopes of the Saar river valley; 9.5% alcohol; tasted twice; basket pressed and vinified in a combination of oak and stainless steel). Flint. Nuts and petrol. Macademia nuts in fact. Mango. A little peach. When I first tasted this the sample was almost a little petillant (after recent bottling); not so the second time, though this is a wine that dances and tingles as it does so. It’s almost mischievous in personality. So fantastically vibrant and bright. Radiant in its acidity, with just a touch of residual sugar. Fresh ginger; ginger ale; orange zest. So mineral you could almost cut yourself on it. Special. 95.

Domäne Serrig Vogelsang Grosse Lage (Markus Molitor) 2022 (100% Riesling; from a grand cru vineyard in the Saar; from a legendary estate built by Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1904 on the incredibly steep slate slopes of the Saar river valley; 10 g/l of residual sugar, acidity of 8 g/l; 12% alcohol). That flinty, stony minerality again – here the impression of pebbles in a babbling mountain stream. Lifted but less so than the Kabinett – with less of the ‘vertiginous acidity’ I found in the 2021. But the same exciting, vivid, energising, almost playful acidity. More ample and more layered too. A wine of massive intensity and complexity. Hyper-saline in its minerality. Exquisite. Utterly unique and highly distinctive. 97.

Schloss Johannisberg Kabinett Orangelack 2024 (Rheingau; 100% Riesing; 1200 bottles; barrel-pressed with vinification in steel and just 6 months of oak aging). The top Kabinett cuvée of this increasingly iconic estate. A wine of utter brilliance and another ‘Riesling week’ star that is so complex as to be very difficult to describe. Closed aromatically but enticing. On the palate, it’s the residual sucrosity that one notices first, but only for an instant. For then we sense the sheer juiciness and sapidity of the wine and, with that, is delivered the wall of intensely grapefruit-scented and grapefruit-charged acidity and freshness. The opposite of a sugar-rush – a citrus-rush perhaps? This is wondrously flinty too. Brilliant and with very considerable aging potential. 97.

Schloss Johannisberg Trocken Goldlak 2022 (Rheingau; 100% Riesling; 1200 bottles; 33 months of aging in oak; 12.5% alcohol). There’s an enticing touch of Tutankhamun gold to this and there’s a step up in the intensity of the citrus and flint notes in comparison with the Orangelack in this exquisite and exciting wine from Schloss Johannisberg. It’s perhaps a little more essentially Riesling with fewer of the more tropical notes of the Orangelack cuvee and the slightly hint of the service station forecourt alongside the polished pebbles in a babbling brook. Almost a touch of damson skin and just a hint of its tannins. Incredibly vibrant, bright, fresh and crisp – rapier-like in its precision to the point where you feel you might cut your tongue on its vivid mineral-encrusted steely central spine. Lime and pink grapefruit and an almost electrical freshness. 98.

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Zach, Bergweiler-Prüm Erben, Dr Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling GG Dry Vieilles Vignes Riesling 2019 (12.5% alcohol; 1344 bottles produced). White grapefruit. Citron pressé. Fresh lemon. A little residual sugar. Melon flesh. This is vivid and vibrant and brilliant. A little lemon sherbet. Spritzy and zesty, long and radiant, fresh and rapier-like. Truly exceptional. 95.

Zach, Bergweiler-Prüm Erben, Dr Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett Vieilles Vignes 2019 (9.5% alcohol; 1348 bottles). The only tragedy here is the tiny number of bottles. Wow! An electrically brilliant wine. So bright and crisp and fresh and pixilated in its seemingly perfect capturing of pure fruit. Creamier, richer and fuller than the ‘Dry GG’ but with even more natural acidity to compensate. Peach kernel. Tarte au citron. Lemon meringue pie. As tense as a high wire trapeze artist in a tornado. 98.

Zach, Bergweiler-Prüm Erben, Dr Loosen Dr Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Vieilles Vignes 2019 (9.5% alcohol; 1281 bottles produced ). Incredible. An utterly brilliant wine with a more disguised tension in fact than the Kabinett, so well integrated and so complementary are the citrus notes and the residual sucrosity. Lemon meringue pie again supplemented with a parfumier’s essence of lemon. So sapid and scrunchingly juicy on the finish – like wringing out a wet towel. Tactile with the tense acidity and its energetic charge sending electric spikes up and down the spine and sending the hairs on the back of my neck into vertical raptures. Brilliant. 97.

Weingut Gunther Steinmetz Wintricher Geierslay Kabinett 2024 (Mosel; 100% Riesling; 7.5% alcohol). Wow! I was simply blown away by the sheer originality and quality of this wine, above all considering its price point, when I first tasted the 2023 last year. I am again. Profoundly fascinating aromatically, with distinct fresh ginger and ginger ale accompanying the slightly more conventional Riesling elements. Strikingly and brilliantly fresh. Here the accent is on confit pink grapefruit, lemon sorbet and fleur d’oranger. Miraculous! 96.

Weingut Gunther Steinmetz Neumagner Rosengärtchen GG Riesling 2024 (Mosel; 100% Riesling; 12.5% alcohol). The first release of this wine on la place (if was not part of last year’s first release from Gunther Steinmetz). Every bit as unique and wondrous as the other two cuvées, this is difficult to describe such is its aromatic complexity and its sheer singularity. It’s quite opulent and rich in a way, but there’s an almost visceral citrus acidity coursing through its veins that shatters any impression of fatness before it can form. But there’s an impressive viscosity and all the intensity that implies. Greengage. Damson skin. Mirabelle. White flowers and 51 shades of citrus. And very saline in its minerality. Fascinating. This is also difficult to read as it’s so incredibly youthful and a little closed on the palate at this early stage. 96.

Weingut Gunther Steinmetz Piesporter Treppschen GG Riesling 2024 (Mosel; 100% Riesling; 12.5% alcohol). From an incredibly steep sloping terraced vineyard of old vines (now 90 years in age) on a silvery grey slate soil. Another belter of wine from Gunther Steinmetz and, for me, the pick of the three releases. This is more classical, more composed in a way (despite the flint, lemon balm and hints of popcorn!), a little less racy and a little more introvert aromatically at least at first. It’s also much more grippy on the palate, with a fascinating touch of tannin that massages the fruit and draws it out over the palate almost more like a fine claret texturally. Once again, to seek to describe these wines is to risk sounding like something of an idiot – as they really do break the mould, requiring a certain stretching of the vinous vernacular! My advice is to stop reading and to taste this for yourself! 97.

Battenfeld Spanier Mölsheim Auf Dem Kalkofen Riesling 2023 (Rheinhessen; 100% Riesling; single vineyard; premier cru; 12.5% alcohol; certified organic). This is wonderfully original. The aromatics are brilliantly distinct with a fabulous, quite intense, fresh ginger note accompanying the cinnamon, white melon, fresh lemon, lime zest and white pear fruit. More terroir than Riesling in a way. There’s a brilliantly vivid limestone minerality to this that is very engaging and a delicate trace of crumbly tannins and the tannic grip they impart on the finish accentuating the sense of structure. Subtle, delicate in its way, highly refined and very classy. Quite intellectual. 94+.

Weingut Robert Weil Monte Nostrum Riesling Trocken 2023 (Rheingau; 100% Riesling; 12.5% alcohol). This was actually released on la place in March but let me add a note now that I have a first chance to taste it. This comes from the highest vineyard parcels of Weingut Robert Weil and is produced in vanishingly small quantities (alas). A brilliantly beguiling wine of utter purity and almost perfect crystallinity, the very essence of cool-climate Riesling – one can almost visualise the contours in the glass! Slightly smoky, slightly hazy, with a brilliant waft of flinty fresh gun smoke (the drawing of pistols at dawn to settle the feud!). This is wondrously fresh and vibrant, vivid and intense in its racy, zingy citrus-inflected acidity, and yet so utterly balanced and harmonious, elegant and refined. It needs to be tasted to be believed. You just have to hope there’s some left. 97.

Champagne

Champagne releases	Vintage	Region	New?	Rating
Clos des Goisses Juste Rosé (Philipponnat)	2015	Champagne	No	98

Philipponnat Clos des Goisses Juste Rosé 2015 (Champagne; 84% Pinot Noir; 16% Chardonnay; disgorged March 2025; dosage of 4.5 g/l; just 1441 bottles produced). It’s just such a shame that there is so little of this, as it’s utterly divine. I’m not always the greatest admirer of vintage rosé Champagnes, but I’m always happy to make an exception for Philipponnat’s Clos des Goisses – and the 2015 vintage is staggering. It’s powerful and sunny in its way and in that sense highly expressive of the vintage. But, more than anything, it’s just beautifully poised, delicate, aerial and oh so classy. The rose petal and wild strawberry and raspberry notes so finely complement one another. I love too, the delicate hint of shiso (a Japanese salad lead) and there’s also a very subtle hint of brioche, some delicate sweet spicing, a touch of angelica and a suggestion of rosewater and rose Turkish delight. Gracious and incredibly lifted on the nearly infinite finish. I’m in raptures. 98.

Austria

Austrian releases	Vintage	Region	1^st release?	Rating
Kracher TBA No. 7 Grand Cuvée	2005	Burgenland	Yes	100

Kracher Trockenbeerenauslese No. 7 Nouvelle Vague Grand Cuvée 2005 (65% Chardonnay 35% Welschriesling; 241.8 g/l of residual sugar; 10.5% alcohol). Peach! Peach! More peach! But black raspberry too and crushed raspberry pips. Wow. Simply incredible in its purity and sheer fruit intensity. There’s toffee apple, butterscotch and crème brulée (in fact, much more brulée – the lovely bitterness of burnt sugar – than crème). Then one finds the minerality – saline, but stony too and almost slightly flinty in that very clean, pure, brilliant way. The texture is incredible – succulent, soft, crystalline and then energised by the freshness of the wondrous citrous element that arrive last of all and then interweave themselves with those peaches and, on the finish, we’re back to peaches, peaches and more peaches. Just wow! There are tears in my eyes. 100.

For the tasting notes on this year’s Hors Bordeaux campaigns, see here: Italy and Spain (reds); France (reds); USA (reds); Chile & Argentina (reds); Australia and New Zealand (reds); Germany; the whites; Champagne; sweet wines.