THE NAHE'S ANSWER TO KELLER: EMRICH SCHí–NLEBER
If we were to create a holy trinity of German wineries in the Nahe, it would go as such: Dönnhoff, Emrich-Schönleber, and Schäfer-Fröhlich. These are in the middle stylistically. They're neither as lavish as Dönnhoff, nor are they are fiercely angular as Schäfer-Fröhlich. These are a perfect zen balance of Riesling in a region that is as centripetally balanced within the world of Riesling that exists. It's texture and glycerin matched to a chiseled but glossy and ultrafine structural architecture. While the three Grosses Gewachs (Grand Cru) wines are indubitably some of the world's greatest whites, you'd be making a huge mistake to not explore this middle range of dry Rieslings. The entry-level estate Trocken is a 'calling card' wine that overdelivers. The young vine 'Frühtau' and 'Halgans' are absolute steals and they truly articulate the terroir of the great sites they are grown on. The texture and dry extract possess the stuffing of a GG/Grand Cru wine. Even better with these prices because the top wines from these sites approach $100 and are difficult to find.