NEW DAYS AT NIKOLAIHOF – THE 2025 GROUP

Of course, it being Nikolaihof there will be a panoply of vintages, many of them old or at least mature. This was the best culling among the wines I tasted at the estate five months ago, as this is an estate where gazing forward makes more sense than looking backward.

That is, for the wines as such. The estate retains its dignity and gravitas, but in recent years some wines slipped out of the cradle, and one never knew how things would be. This problem is most of the way to being solved thanks to a huge new press house and cellar which, finally, will enable the wines to be technically “obedient” without altering their basic natures. Five years from now the estate will take its place among the elite for its wines alone.

A lot of this has to do with the excellent working synergy between Nikki Saahs and his life partner (and trained cellarmaster) Katherina Salzgeber. Today’s lineup offers a teasing glimpse at the possibilities lying in wait, without losing the singular dignity of the antique murmurs of complexity that let us love these wines as we do very few others.

These are noted in the sequence I tasted them.