WEINGUT Wwe. Dr.H. THANISCHERBEN THANISCH
“A vintage of great potential and harmonious balance.”
CHRISTINA THANISCH
Wine Region
Mosel, Germany
Vineyard
9 hectares
Sitting on a bend in the Mosel opposite the town of Bernkastel, the Rieslings of mother and daughter Sofia and Christina Thanisch capture the history and magic of this storied region like few others.
Weingut Wwe. Dr. H. Thanisch, Erben Thanisch, to give it its full name, means the estate of the widow of Dr Hugo Thanisch. Following Hugo’s early death in 1895, his young widow Katharina took charge of the estate, beginning a remarkable succession of five generations of women at its helm.
The Thanisch family has made wine here since 1636. Sofia and Christina represent the 11th and 12th generations. A happy event earlier this year was the arrival of the 13th generation, Christina’s firstborn daughter.
At the heart of the estate is the legendary Berncasteler Doctor, a tiny 3.21-hectare (ha) vineyard rising steeply above Bernkastel. The Thanisch family has owned vines here for more than 200 years. Its wines helped establish the family’s international reputation during the 19th century.
The 2025 vintage is an exciting addition to this long history. When we visited Christina and Sofia in August, Christina spoke of the vintage’s “great potential and harmonious balance”. The harvest was one of the shortest in the estate’s history, resulting in reasonable yields and wines of lively acidity and fabulously precise fruit.
2025 is one of those rare years that are expressive across the whole Prädikat range. These are Kabinetts of clarity, sculptural Spätlesen and Auslesen of architectural beauty…
GUY SEDDON
HEAD OF FINE WINE BUYING
NOVEMBER 2026
KABINETT WINES
THANISCH ESTATE RIESLING KABINETT
The Estate Riesling is sourced from vines around the town of Kues, on the left bank of the Mosel. Fruity, inviting aromas of white stone fruit and a promise of stony minerality. The palate is delectable — elegant for sure, but juicy and rounded too, with just the right amount of zest and fruit weight. Versatile and wonderfully food-friendly. 10% abv. Bottled in August 2026 under screwcap.
Corney & Barrow Score 17
Recommended drinking from 2026 - 2030
£95/Case 6 bottles, in bond UK
BERNKASTELER BADSTUBE RIESLING KABINETT
A nice nose of flinty minerality and inviting white peach fruit. The palate is fleshy and moreish, curvaceous and giving. “That’s a summer wine,” Christina said (as the rain lashed down outside). Fermented at 16-18 degrees, then cooled to 8-10 and sulphured to stop the fermentation. Bottled under screwcap in August 2026, just before our visit. 8% abv.
Corney & Barrow Score 17.5
Recommended drinking from 2027 - 2036
£120/Case of 6 bottles, in bond UK
BERNCASTELER DOCTOR RIESLING KABINETT
The Doctor is a magical name in the Mosel. Zesty lime aromas, with white flowers, a hint of pastry and a touch of flint. The palate is exuberant, offering honeyed yellow peach fruit, so open and inviting you could happily drink it now. Stony minerality on the finish, which is focussed and very long, culminating in a delightful vapour trail of minerally, perfumed extract. 8% abv. Bottled in May 2026. Fermented and aged in traditional 1000L oak fuder.
Corney & Barrow Score 18+
Recommended drinking from 2027 - 2040
£210/Case of 6 bottles, in bond UK
SPÄTLESE WINES
BERNKASTELER BADSTUBE RIESLING SPÄTLESE
Lime cordial and slate-led mineral aromas give rise to a high-acid palate of zesty citrus that fans out on an exceedingly long finish, where fine mineral extract, white pepper, and white flower perfume persist. Ripe and fleshy aromas of white and yellow peach with sherbet and lemon zest. The palate is stony and remarkably taut and driven for its 65g/l RS. 9% abv. Bottled in August 2026, just before our visit.
Corney & Barrow Score 17+
Recommended drinking from 2026 - 2034
£135/Case of 6 bottles, in bond UK
BERNCASTELER DOCTOR RIESLING SPÄTLESE
The majestic Doctor vineyard is a constant presence at Thanisch, literally in your eyeline from across the river as you taste in the family house. Super mineral and smoky on the nose, leading into a palate of light, upbeat white flowers, citrus fruits and fine stony minerality. Steely and driving, this has a lot in reserve. One for the cellar. 7.5% abv. Fermented and aged in traditional 1000L oak vats. Bottled in May 2026.
Corney & Barrow Score 18
Recommended drinking from 2029 - 2042
£245/Case of 6 bottles, in bond UK
AUSLESE WINES
BERNCASTELER DOCTOR RIESLING AUSLESE
Stony mineral aromas, with lime skin and sherbet. A hint of linseed too. The palate is saturated — dense and again without the sweetness you think is coming. A wine of shape and texture, offering warmth and exoticism, balanced against fine minerality from the slate soils. Lots of development to come here — although it will unwind slowly over the next couple of decades, don’t let that deter you from opening a bottle early. 7.5% abv. 78g/l RS. Bottled in May 2026.
Corney & Barrow Score 18.5
Recommended drinking from 2030 - 2045
£335/Case of 6 bottles, in bond UK
GROSSES GEWÄCHS WINES
These two wines sit apart from the rest of the Thanisch line-up because they are totally dry. As such, they are labelled Grosses Gewächs, or ‘GG’s, a pan-German term for the highest quality tier of ‘grand cru’ dry wines, which come from Grosse Lage sites (similar to Burgundy’s grands crus). Some producers, including Thanisch, choose to include the word trocken on the label also, to underscore that these are bone-dry wines.
BERNKASTELER GRABEN RIESLING GROSSES GEWÄCHS (TROCKEN)
Bernkasteler Graben is a cooler site, adjacent to the Doctor vineyard. The vines are 60-80 years old. The family has 0.5ha here, all used for the GG, which has been made since 2015. Enticing aromas of ripe white peach fruit with flinty minerality. The palate is bone dry, without any austerity — it is super focussed, with an insistent ripeness of white fruit to the mid-palate. The Graben GG tends to be approachable earlier than the Doctor. Bottled in August 2026. 11.5% abv. Fermented and aged half in stainless steel tank, half in a 10hl old oak vat.
Corney & Barrow Score 17.5+
Recommended drinking from 2028 - 2042
£180/Case of 6 bottles, in bond UK
BERNCASTELER DOCTOR RIESLING GROSSES GEWÄCHS (TROCKEN)
One of the top sites of the Mosel, the Doctor is a relatively warm vineyard, with a 65% gradient. It is planted with 65–80-year-old vines. Around 20% of the grapes from the Doctor vineyard are used for this wine. Pale lemon colour with green tints. Warming, inviting aromas of white and yellow peach, with caster sugar and a fine line of flint. The palate opens fine and chiselled, slowly revealing stone fruit flavours, offset against steely acidity. Texture and extract assert themselves on the finish, alongside a fine friable mineral character. Bottled in August 2026, a week before we tasted. 11.5% abv. Fermented in one 10hl old oak Mosel fuder and one stainless steel tank. It stays on its lees until February, when it is racked into stainless steel tank.
Corney & Barrow Score 18-18.5
Recommended drinking from 2029 - 2045
£245/Case of 6 bottles, in bond UK
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