The 2023 Vintage Wines of Martin Tesch

It’s hard to describe Martin Tesch as an enfant terrible when his 20-something-year-old son Johannes, himself far from either enfant or terrible, is explaining the vagaries of the 2023 vintages as he runs through the gamut of Tesch’s new vintage Rieslings at this year’s ProWein. On the surface, there doesn’t seem to be much terrible about Martin Tesch either other than the fact that like a small number of his compatriots, this 10th generation vintner, and biochemist, has no desire to be part of the VDP, Germany’s club of top wines, preferring to plough his own furrow in the hillside vineyards of the Nahe Valley.

Mind you the 56-year-old does produce a cult Riesling from his 25 hectares called UNPLUGGED, which is a bit modern for the VDP. According to Tesch, ‘In an age of technological reproducibility and mass production, unplugged stands for artistry and the principle that not every innovation and trend actually delivers better sound.’ and he has also put all his wines, all dry, under screwcap since 2005, which means that the purity of their Riesling flavours and the specificity of the Nahe terroir shine through for maximum freshness and varietal expression.

How was the 2023 vintage? It was the second most challenging vintage after 2006, which had been a nightmare but Tesch had learnt from it not to try to pick everything. 2023 had been a very fast picking season. Two weeks before the 2023 harvest, there had been a lot of rain and while it was dry and sunny afterwards, picking required careful selection. ‘In 2006 I made the big mistake of thinking I could handle it’ says Tesch, but if a rhino comes towards you, you get out of the way; because of the botrytis in 2023, we were totally focused on getting the healthy grapes into the winery. In 2023, the acidity is low but the pH is also low which is why the wines are so fresh’.

The iron T sculpture in Tesch’s vineyard stands not only for Tesch, terroir and trocken, but for temperature too. The aim of the new viticulture is to keep the temperature in the vineyard down, using a high trellis and plenty of shading to slow down the ripening process for less stressed vines and more aromatic wines. Tesch’s commitment to sustainability means working without the use of herbicides, insecticides or mineral fertilizers.

All these wines show a serious precision and purity of both texture and flavour, clean and refreshing with enough fruit middle to make them juicy and delicious. They are typically refreshingly well-balanced and given their relative youth, almost surprisingly approachable. In my view, they can be drunk young, but will develop complexity with five to seven years’ age. The ageability of the wines was demonstrated when Johannes Tesch showed me several back vintages of Riesling from the Karthäuser vineyard (see notes after the 2023 vintage).

A Taste of the 2023 Vintage Wines

2023 Tesch Weissburgunder.

Sweet and spicy aromas, English apples, juicy fruit, quite appley and juicy, good juicy acidity and nice balance. 88 / 100

2023 Tesch Rosé.

Onion skin, aromatic with a fresh prickle on the tongue, juicy berry fruit, starting out fruity, then turning to savoury and dry, with mouthwatering finish. dry. 89 / 100

2023 Tesch Riesling T.

This Riesling from young vines 5 – 20 years old is pale yellow, pleasantly aromatic, showing juicy soft-textured yellow fruits with marked refreshingly clean acidity for a balanced dry finish. 89 / 100

2023 Tesch Riesling Unplugged.

Pale yellow green, intense aromatics, fresh prickle on the tongue, citrusy, almost slightly acrid with juicy citrusy Riesling fruit whose ripe fruit middle leads to a crisp, mouthwateringly bone dry finish. 90 / 100

2023 Tesch Langenlonsheimer Riesling, Löhrer Berg.

This Riesling from heavy loamy, gravelly soil is pale yellow green, aromatic, fresh prickle on tongue, with a lovely appley fruit quality and almost voluptuously textured purity, and after the initial sweetness, a refreshingly balanced finish. 91 / 100

2023 Tesch Laubenheimer Riesling Krone.

From mixed loess and weathered sandstone soils, this Riesling from the steep southeast slope of the Krone is green-hued, initially sweet and spicy in its citrusy fragrance, with a refreshing spritz, and delightfully juicy fruit purity, fine- textured, with mouthwateringly citrusy acidity and balance, finishing dry. 92 / 100

2023 Tesch Langenlonsheimer Riesling Königschild.

Yellow green in colour, from calcareous limestone mixed with loess and river loam soils, this shows a fine fresh, floral fragrance, this is richly textured with delicious stone fruit flavours, whose ripe and concentrated fruit middle is followed by refreshing acidity bringing excellent overall balance and charm. 92 / 100

2023 Tesch Laubenheimer Riesling Karthäuser.

Yellow green hued, this Riesling from a southwest-facing vineyard with weathered sandstone soils is fresh and fragrant with the instant appeal of a leesy prickle on the tongue and intense stone fruit flavours, underpinned by a zesty, grapefruity freshness and mineral dry finish. 93 / 100

2023 Tesch Laubenheimer Riesling St. Remigiusberg.

Pale yellow green in colour, this Riesling comes from a small single vineyard with weathered volcanic rock and iron-rich clay; it’s sweetly aromatic with a refreshing light prickle on the tongue and deliciously ripe and juicy stone fruit flavours cut by a lively, refreshing tang and cleansing minerally dry finish. 93 / 100

Older vintages of Tesch Riesling Karthäuser

2021 Tesch Riesling Karthäuser, Magnum. Gorgeous citrus aromatics, absolutely delicious and fine-textured mix of ripeness of stone fruit with incisiveness of citrus juiciness, all beautifully balanced, still incredibly fresh and vital, yet voluptuously balanced with dry finish, almost crunchy. 95 / 100

2020 Tesch Riesling Karthäuser.

Fine classic Riesling fragrance, with a smoky, limey quality and a fruit quality that’s mouthwateringly limey with a light underlying smokiness, turning from ripely sweet to savoury-sour almost salty, and finishing refreshingly dry. 94 / 100

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2018 Tesch Riesling Karthäuser, Magnum.

Also classic Riesling aromatics in the vein of the 2020, still spritz fresh on the tongue, with lime juicy aromas and a fruit quality, showing a soft- textured ripeness, finishing satisfyingly dry. 92 / 100

2015 Tesch Riesling Karthäuser. Half-bottle.

Golden in colour and now quite evolved in its aromatics, no doubt due to the half-bottle; deveyet still fresh and juicy with a pleasing dry finish, ready for drinking now. 89 / 100