Visiting #worldclass Producers Christoph and Johannes Thoerle of Weingut Thoerle in Rheinhessen/ Germany (2023)

In anticipation of various tastings by

Weingut Thoerle in Saulheim, Rheinhessen

Weingut Thoerle is a German elite producer. It belongs to the group of German elite producers like Molitor, Dreissigacker, Selbach-Oster, Ziereisen, to name a few, that produce at the worldclass level, but are not member of the VDP, the association of about 200 German elite producers.

In the most recent James Suckling/ Stuart Pigott list of the Top 100 Wines of Germany (2022), Weingut Thoerle is #4 with their Weingut Thoerle 2021 Hölle Riesling Trocken.

See: Top 100 Wines of Germany 2022 by James Suckling/ Stuart Pigott

Stuart Pigott: A much less well known example of how Rheinhessen became the dream factory of dry German wines takes position No. 4, the flamboyant and expressive Thörle Riesling Rheinhessen Hölle Trocken 2021. In recent years, the dry rieslings from brothers Johannes and Christoph Thorle stood in the shadows of their amazing spatburgunder reds, but 2021 gave their dry rieslings a stunning brilliance.

Weingut Thoerle is available in the USA through David Bowler Wines (Portfolio Manager: Evan Spingarn). Chamber Cellars in New York just sent out a special offer including a Spätburgunder of Weingut Thoerle.

Based in Saulheim in the center of Rheinhessen, the Thoerle brothers are branching out and built new winemaking facilities right in the middle of their vineyards outside of Saulheim, while most of the wine production still takes place in the old cellars in the center of Saulheim. This time, for the first time, we met at the new winery.

Tim Atkin's London Pinot Noir Tasting “Germany Versus Rest of World”in 2011

 Sponsored by the German Wine Institute (Deutsches Wein Institut), Tim Atkin organized a Pinot Noir “Germany Versus Rest of World” Tasting in London in October 2011, at which the German wines performed extremely well: 7 of the top 13 wines of the 40 Pinot Noirs from around the world were German Spaetburgunder wines.

The best ranked German Pinot Noir was the 2008 Winzerhof Thörle Spätburgunder Hölle; it was ranked #3 overall and #1 of the German Pinot Noirs.

I have written about the tasting: The Tim Atkin Pinot Noir Taste-Off of October 2011: Germany Versus the Rest of the World - German Red Wines Show Strong Performance.

Surprising the World with their Pinot Noir: Johannes and Christoph Thoerle, Winzerhof Thoerle, Rheinhessen, Germany

ombiasy WineTours

We have visited Weingut Thoerle on several wine tours by ombiasy, but we have always been in the old buildings in the center of Saulheim and have not yet visited the new winemaking facilities, see: 

Visit: Winzerhof Thörle in Saulheim, Rheinhessen – Germany-North Wine Tour by ombiasy (2014)

Next time, we will have a chance to see the new winemaking facilities.

Christoph Thoerle's Dinner Recommendation: Nickl's Speisekammer

Following the visit of Weingut Thoerle, suggested by Christoph Thoerle, we had dinner at Nickl's Speisekammer in Biebelsheim. See:

Awesome 5-course Dinner at Nickl's Speisekammer in Biebelsheim/ Nahe/ Germany (2023)

Visiting Christoph Thoerle and Johannes Thoerle of Weingut Thoerle in Rheinhessen/ Germany (2023)