2023 Immel Wines Reserve Riesling

A powerful, mineral-driven dry Riesling from the limestone soils of Westhofen

One of the exciting new names emerging from Rheinhessen — serious terroir, serious winemaking and extraordinary value.

94 Points – JamesSuckling.com

Rheinhessen, Germany | Westhofen | RRP $67 | Organic Riesling | Dry • Powerful • Chalky • Mineral

“Deep, powerful and beautifully mineral — citrus, herbs and ripe fruit wrapped around brilliant stony acidity and a long, expressive finish.”

Tasting Notes

Appearance: Bright pale yellow with green-gold reflections — youthful, clear and beautifully vibrant.

Aroma: An intense and complex nose of candied citrus, lemon, ripe peach and Mediterranean herbs, with fresh herbal notes and a distinctive chalky mineral character underneath.

As it opens, there's greater depth and complexity — citrus peel, stone fruit and subtle savoury notes all emerging from the glass.

Palate: This is where things get serious.

Compact and powerful, with considerably more weight and structure than you might expect from a $67 Riesling.

There's ripe fruit through the middle, but it's lifted by bright, stony acidity and a beautifully mineral backbone.

Powerful without becoming heavy.

Ripe without losing freshness.

Textural without sacrificing precision.

Finish: Long, energetic and expressive, with citrus, herbs and that wonderful chalky, salty minerality lingering long after the wine has disappeared.

Critical Acclaim

94 Points – JamesSuckling.com

Stuart Pigott's review gets straight to the heart of this wine.

He highlights the deep aromatics of candied citrus and Mediterranean herbs, before describing a compact and powerful palate whose bright, stony acidity lifts the wine beautifully.

He also specifically notes the:

“long, expressive finish.”

And importantly, Pigott says:

Drink or hold.

This isn't simply a fresh Riesling designed to disappear within twelve months.

There's genuine structure here.

Westhofen – Serious Riesling Country

The fruit for the Immel Riesling Réserve comes from top vineyard sites in Westhofen and the surrounding area.

And that's important.

Westhofen sits in the southern Rheinhessen and has become one of Germany's most exciting addresses for dry Riesling.

This is limestone country.

Chalk. Limestone. Mineral soils.

These soils play an enormous role in the personality of the wine.

Rather than producing something simply fruity and aromatic, the best Rieslings from this area can have tremendous structure and a distinctive chalky, salty mineral character.

That's exactly what you see here.

There's fruit.

Plenty of it.

But underneath everything is:

STONE.

And that mineral backbone is what takes the wine to another level.

The Man Behind Immel – Georg Rieser

This is another reason Immel is worth putting on the radar.

The creative force behind the estate is:

GEORG RIESER.

And his résumé is seriously interesting.

His training and winemaking experience includes names such as:

Wagner-Stempel

Weingut Wittmann

and incredibly:

Domaine Dagueneau.

That's some education.

Wittmann is one of the benchmark estates of Rheinhessen and one of Germany's great producers of dry Riesling.

And Domaine Dagueneau is one of the most famous and influential white-wine estates in France.

Rieser's experience across Germany and France has helped shape a philosophy built around terroir, organic viticulture, texture and minimal interference in the cellar.

This isn't industrial Riesling.

It's serious wine from someone with a very serious winemaking background.

Organic Viticulture

Immel's philosophy begins in the vineyard.

The estate focuses on:

Organic viticulture.

For Rieser, organic farming isn't simply a marketing exercise.

It's fundamental to producing wines that accurately reflect their vineyard origins.

The fruit for the Réserve is selectively harvested from top vineyards around Westhofen, where limestone-rich soils provide the foundation for the wine's distinctive mineral personality.

The idea is simple:

Grow better fruit.

Interfere less.

Let the vineyard do the talking.

Winemaking

And the winemaking behind the 2023 is particularly interesting.

This isn't a simple stainless-steel fermented Riesling.

The 2023 was:

• Organically grown
• Sourced from top vineyards around Westhofen
• Selectively harvested
• Wild fermented
• Fermented in a large used oak cask
• Matured to build texture and complexity
• Bottled at approximately 12.5% alcohol

James Suckling's review specifically records the 2023 as being wild-fermented in a 3,000-litre used oak cask.

The large-format seasoned oak isn't about adding obvious vanilla or toast.

It's about texture.

Oxygen.

Complexity.

Structure.

And that helps explain why the wine has such an interesting combination of Riesling vitality with a broader, more powerful palate.

Not Your Typical Riesling

This is worth emphasising.

If your idea of Riesling is something incredibly light, delicate and purely citrus-driven:

This is different.

There's real substance here.

The wine is dry.

Textural.

Powerful.

Chalky.

Mineral.

Yet there's still enough acidity to make everything feel energetic.

That's the clever bit.

It has the structure of a serious dry white wine with the electricity of Riesling.

It's a style that should appeal not only to Riesling fanatics but also to people who normally gravitate towards serious Chardonnay.

The Immel Story

The Immel family's connection to the region stretches back centuries, with the family settling in Westhofen and purchasing land there in 1754.

Today, that history is being given a thoroughly modern interpretation.

The focus is on organic farming, serious vineyard sites and traditional winemaking rather than chasing fashionable techniques.

The estate itself describes its goal as producing authentic Rheinhessen wines that combine the region's long viticultural tradition with contemporary knowledge.

And the 2023 Réserve suggests they're onto something.

Food Pairings

This has considerably more structure than a lightweight Riesling, so you can push the food pairings further.

Try it with:

• Grilled snapper or kingfish
• Roast salmon
• Scallops with brown butter
• Roast chicken
• Pork with mustard cream
• Veal schnitzel
• Quiche Lorraine
• Thai seafood
• Goat's cheese
• Creamy vegetable dishes

The combination of acidity, texture and minerality makes this a particularly versatile food wine.

Why We Love It

This is exactly the sort of producer we love discovering.

You're getting:

Rheinhessen

Westhofen

100% Riesling

Organic viticulture

Limestone-rich vineyards

Wild fermentation

Large-format seasoned oak

Georg Rieser

Experience with Wagner-Stempel, Wittmann & Domaine Dagueneau

and:

94 POINTS – JAMESSUCKLING.COM

Then look at the price:

RRP $67.

That's what makes this particularly interesting.

You're getting a serious dry Riesling from one of Germany's most exciting wine regions, made from organically grown fruit by a winemaker with an exceptional résumé.

And it isn't $100+.

2023 IMMEL RIESLING RÉSERVE

Rheinhessen, Germany

94 Points – JamesSuckling.com

RRP $67

Organic.

Wild fermented.

Westhofen fruit.

Limestone soils.

Large-format oak.

94 points.

Powerful. Chalky. Mineral. Energetic.

The 2023 Immel Riesling Réserve is not simply another German Riesling.

There's genuine ambition here.

It has the citrus and energy you want from Riesling, but there's an extra dimension of texture, power and chalky mineral intensity that makes this a seriously interesting bottle.

And Georg Rieser's background with Wittmann, Wagner-Stempel and Dagueneau makes Immel a producer I would be watching very closely.

94 Points. RRP $67.

If you love serious dry German Riesling, get onto Immel before everyone else does.