The estate is located in the small town of Nierstein (Nierstein area) in the Rheinhessen wine-growing region in Germany. The estate was established in 1920, but was only given its current name in 1985. The name was chosen in memory of an old iron foundry owned by previous estate owner, the MAN group. In the autumn of 2005, MAN sold the estate to the entrepreneur Detlev Meyer. The Heyl zu Herrnsheim wine estate is under the same ownership. At the end of 2006, both estates moved into the renovated buildings of the former Gustav Adolf Schmitt wine estate. However, the two estates remain completely separate in administrative and production terms. The general manager and cellar master is Felix Peters. The vineyard area totals 26,5 hectares, with holdings in the top-rated Nierstein sites Hipping, Ölberg, Orbel and Pettental.Varieties planted here are Riesling (80%), as well as Pinot Noir (8%), Pinot Blanc (8%) and Silvaner (4%). Only the best wines from steep slopes bear the vineyard site name on the label, and are designated as Grand Crus (Großes Gewächs). The second level in the hierarchy of quality are the wines from the red soils of the Roter Hang slope, which are from the middle section of the slope. The estate wines make up the basic level of the product range. When vintage conditions permit, sweet botrytis wines are also produced. Annual production is around 160.000 bottles of wine. The estate is a member of the VDP (Verband deutscher Prädikats- und Qualitäts-Weingüter) association.
The new cellar master, Felix Peters, has come to the estate in order to produce a maiden vintage that, considering the very difficult conditions, is highly successful. The three Grand Crus, in particular, indicate that the estate is now ready to work its way into the group of leading producers in the region. No red wines were presented this year.
The white wines of the 2005 vintage are a success story for the Sankt Antony estate. In particular, the Grand Crus/Grosse Gewächse of the Ölberg and Orbel sites are really good. Unfortunately, the red wines, of which one is not shown in the results, could not match this high standard.
Rheinhessen
Riesling, White wine, QbA, "Hipping", Großes Gewächs
Six excellent wines and four rated very good, that is an impressive range, showing there are experts at work here. The estate appears to be continually working at improving the wine quality. The estate does not appear to have any real problem children, the quality within the range is very consistent. If they keep this up, a 4-star rating is surely possible. Our compliments.
Rheinhessen
Riesling, White wine, QbA, vom Rotliegenden Oe, 9.00 €
An excellent vintage for the Sankt Antony estate, apart from some weakness evident in the Portugieser and Dornfelder wines. The Riesling wines are firmly structured, and most of them are characterised by prominent mineral notes, frequently reminiscent of tobacco and smoke. We were pleasantly surprised by the complex Pinot Noir/Spätburgunder. One thing we could not quite fathom is the labelling policy: why are there six different bottlings of the "Vom Rotliegenden"?
Rheinhessen
Riesling, White wine, QbA, dry, vom Rotliegenden, 7.70 €
Alex Michalsky has presented a small but very impressive range of dry Rieslings this year. All wines are completely clean and firmly structured, and owe much more to their terroir than to upfront fruit. The Grosse Gewächse (Grand Crus) in particular leave the impression that they will still improve significantly as they mature (the Pettental was tasted twice, as there was an indication of a fault on the first bottle). My compliments on this achievement!
An impressive collection, with a trio of very elegant and yet incredibly expressive dry Riesling Spätleses making up the top of the range. At this stage, I prefer the racy Pettental with its intense mineral notes, while the Erstes Gewächs (Grand Cru) from the Ölberg vineyard site will only reveal its rich potential in a few years time, and may then possibly be the highest rated wine in this range.
Home
|
Subscription
RSS
Contact
Newsletter
Search
German
Audio
Documents
Homepage
Geo search
Contact
Readers letter (so far 0)
