GERMANY

The Keller family emigrated from Switzerland generations ago and has owned parts of the Dalsheimer Hubacker vineyard since 1789. Since Klaus-Peter Keller took charge of his family’s Rheinhessen winery in 2001, his rise to fame has been meteoric.

In the vineyards everything is done manually and Keller devotes particular attention to achieving perfect maturity, his aim being to arrest and extend ripening to broaden and intensify the flavour of the fruit. Another priority is selection: rigorous manual sorting in the vineyard and then again in the cellar eliminates any less-than-pristine berries.

From bone-dry Rieslings that are regularly cited as being among the very finest white wines in the world to Spätburgunder that rivals top-class Burgundy, Keller makes an astonishing number of world class offerings. On the way up the ladder, the estate also has more “everyday” wines of varying level of sweetness and age-ability.

Keller’s wines are of tremendous concentration, yet they never feel heavy or over the top. The purity and minerally sensation they manage to convey are pretty much unrivalled elsewhere, making them some of the most exciting wines in the world.

18 ha