They still need to fine-tune the name. “Charity Summer Festival on July 5, 2026, hosted by the VDP. 2025 Auction Wineries of the VDP. Wine Auction on the Nahe with the Ahr, Rheinhessen, and the Palatinate.” However, the festival’s history is also a bit complex. In 1912, the Association of Natural Wine Auctioneers on the Nahe was founded in Kreuznach, the predecessor of today’s VDP.Nahe. In 1994, wineries from the Ahr region joined the Nahe VDP auction in Bad Kreuznach. Wineries from Rheinhessen and the Palatinate followed in 2007. Since 2018, in addition to bottles of wine, charity cases have also been auctioned off for a charitable cause. In 2024, the first charity event took place—essentially a private, culinary “Meet the Winemaker” event—for which tickets could be acquired through an auction. This was then expanded into the first Charity Summer Festival in 2025, with proceeds benefiting the “Wurzeln schlagen” sustainability project of the Bad Kreuznach district.
Eight tickets were auctioned off in November 2025 at a starting price of 300 euros—the final bid came in at 1,000 euros! The event took place the following July at the beautifully situated Gut Hermannsberg on the Nahe River, which also serves as the host and is itself an auction winery. Its team, led by Managing Director Achim Kirchner, also donated the barbecue buffet, which was complemented by culinary delights from the wineries’ kitchens.
An intimate setting for great wines
It was a small, intimate setting – with more bottles than guests, if I counted correctly. Of the 13 wineries that participated in last year’s auction, ten were represented in person, some accompanied by family members. Alongside the “host,” Achim Kirchner, were Frank Schönleber (Emrich-Schönleber Winery), president of the VDP.Nahe, and Caroline Diel (Schlossgut Diel), his vice president. Helmut Dönnhoff (Weingut Dönnhoff), Tim Fröhlich (Weingut Schäfer-Fröhlich), and Sebastian Schäfer (Weingut Joh. Bap. Schäfer) rounded out the sextet from the Nahe region. Rheinhessen was represented by Fritz Groebe (K. F. Groebe Winery), Agnes Hasselbach (Gunderloch Winery), and Klaus-Peter Keller (Keller Winery), while the Ahr region was repped by Ludwig Kreuzberg (H. J. Kreuzberg Winery). The Philipp Kuhn Winery from the Palatinate, as well as the Wagner-Stempel and Wittmann wineries from Rheinhessen, were at least present through their wines. It was, therefore, more than just a regional event for the top producers from the Nahe region—and ultimately turned out to be a shining moment for German wine as a whole.
The 36 wines presented were, of course, not representative of top-tier German viticulture as a whole. This stems from the origins of the VDP.Wine Auction in Bad Kreuznach. Closely tied to the history of the VDP.Nahe, its focus is primarily on Riesling. With the exception of a few Pinot Noirs, all auction lots in Bad Kreuznach consist of Riesling wines. This grape variety is the only one approved for the production of “Große Gewächse” on the Nahe. After all, since the 1990s, the region has been regarded as a historic driving force behind the emergence of the global reputation for dry Rieslings. This was a key reason why, in 2007, prominent winemakers from the Palatinate and Rheinhessen joined the VDP.Auction in Bad Kreuznach. Since then, Bad Kreuznach has been regarded as a mecca for world-class dry Rieslings—as a counterpart to the “residual-sweet” Großer Ring in Trier. It’s no wonder that the price record for a dry German wine—a 2020 Pettenthal Riesling GG from Weingut Keller in a double magnum bottle for 16,100 euros—was set in Bad Kreuznach.
A Thrilling Tasting
Unsurprisingly, then, 28 of the 36 wines served were dry. In addition to four Spätburgunders, there were 32 white wines, of which 29 were Rieslings, two were Chardonnays, and one was a Weißburgunder. Among the 21 dry Rieslings, in turn, there were two sparkling wines, four still wines from the “mid-range” category, and 15 truly exceptional wines. These constituted—even if it is, of course, unfair to the other wines—something of a “royal discipline.” What distinguished the selection that evening from, say, a VDP annual presentation was the depth of vintages stretching back to 1994, the many magnum bottles, and the exclusive bottlings that exist only as auction wines. Especially since a winemaker like Klaus-Peter Keller doesn’t present his wines there at all. A quick look at the “others”: The Kupfergrube sparkling wine from Gut Hermannsberg is now certainly among the best in Germany, especially in the magnum format. As for the Riesling Kabinetts, it became clear why Klaus-Peter Keller (2022 Niersteiner Hipping) and Sebastian Schäfer (2021 Dorsheimer Goldloch) produce auction wines here—both were spectacular.
Keller also impressed with a stylistically striking Chardonnay debut from the 2023 Westhofener Steingrube. Here, a new category of world-class German wines is already emerging on the horizon. The showcase of dry Rieslings then consisted, so to speak, of two parts. First, classic “Große Gewächse” from the auction estates, spanning vintages all the way back to 1994—with Dönnhoff’s Hermannshöhle, of course, as a dry Spätlese. These wines were of a very high caliber and served, not least, as an illustration of the stylistic evolution of dry German Rieslings.
Finally, the actual auction wines were presented: Fenchelberg from Gunderloch (here: 2021), Final from Schäfer-Fröhlich (also 2021), Brücke from Dönnhoff (2018), Auf der Ley from Emrich-Schönleber (2016, magnum), and the Grande Reserve from Groebe. These wines—which also include Wittmann’s La Borne, Wagner-Stempel’s EMT, and Keller’s Pettenthal, not presented here—are all of world-class caliber. In fact, one cannot truly speak of the absolute pinnacle of dry Rieslings without knowing the auction wines from Bad Kreuznach. Their presentation at this stage of maturity made the day a spectacular and exceptional tasting experience.
Note
My 2025 report on the VDP.Auction on the Nahe, along with tasting notes for all wines from the 2025 auction, can be found here. And here is the link to my report on the 2025 VDP.Auction.
Image credits
Stefan Pegatzky / Time Tunnel Images
