A 1990 Ehrenfelser from the Erbacher Steinmorgen vineyard, bottled by Baron Knyphausen in the Rheingau. It comes in the 500mL format that German estates traditionally used for their richer, late-picked wines, and it now has over three decades of bottle age behind it.
About This Wine
Ehrenfelser is a Riesling and Silvaner crossing bred at the Geisenheim research institute in 1929. It ripens more easily than Riesling while keeping a good share of its acidity, which made it popular in the Rheingau for sweeter Prädikat wines in the 1970s and 1980s. Few growers still work with it. Steinmorgen is an Erbach site on the flatter land between the village and the Rhine. The Prädikat level is not stated in our listing, but 1990 was a ripe, clean and widely praised German vintage, and this is a mature, fruit-rich white rather than a young one.
Tasting Profile
- Nose: Dried apricot, honey, orange peel and a light waxy, petrol edge from age.
- Palate: Soft and mellow, with preserved stone fruit and citrus held up by fresh acidity.
- Finish: Medium to long, with honeyed fruit and a gentle mineral note.
Serving & Food
Let the bottle rest upright for a day so any fine deposit settles, then open it just before pouring. Around 8 to 10°C suits it, in an ordinary white wine glass. It is ready now. Try it with pork terrine, roast duck with apple sauce, or a ripe washed-rind cheese.
How to Enjoy
Lovers of mature German whites and anyone curious about the rarer Rheingau varieties. A good bottle for a 1990 birthday or anniversary.
Product Details
Category: White Wine
Producer: Weingut Baron Knyphausen (Freiherr zu Knyphausen)
Country: Germany
Region: Rheingau
Vineyard: Erbacher Steinmorgen
Grape Variety: Ehrenfelser
Vintage: 1990
Volume: 500mL
About the Estate
Weingut Baron Knyphausen works from the Draiser Hof on the edge of Erbach, in Eltville am Rhein. The farm once belonged to the Cistercian monks of Kloster Eberbach, and the present manor house went up in 1727. The zu Knyphausen family bought the property in 1818 and still runs it today, now in its eighth generation, with roughly 17 hectares of vines.
It is a VDP member estate with Riesling at the centre of the range, alongside Roter Riesling and a mixed planting of historic Rheingau varieties. The family has long been a fixture of Erbach wine life, and older vintages such as this one come from the era when the estate still worked with crossings like Ehrenfelser in its sweeter bottlings.