J.B. Becker

Even at the risk of losing his customers back in the early days, Hans-Joseph Becker remained resolute in his belief that dry Riesling should be added to the great wines of the Rheingau. Singular in ideal and uncompromising in his delivery, J.B. Becker wines represent some of the finest Riesling and Spätburgunder available today, each layered with complexity and finesse.

Becker is a man of thick white hair, a magnificent moustache curled at the edges and skin that betrays the decades he’s spent tending vines under the sun. Known to his friends as HaJo, he forges his own path in pursuit of unrivalled quality, and the proof is in the bottle. Becker is one of only a few producers using the German predicates for dry and off-dry white and red wines.

Robert Parker listed Clos des Papes as one of the Top 155 Producers in the World.

At J.B. Becker, the fruit is harvested by hand and the vineyard has been managed according to organic principles for decades, though official certification was only sought in 2008. Indigenous yeasts are used for fermentation in pressurised tanks (though recently he’s been experimenting with open-top fermenters), and aging is done in large format before bottling. As of 2003, all wines are sealed with glass closures.

J.B. Becker Rieslings are known for great intensity of flavour and an ability to age exceptionally well. Becker’s unwavering confidence in the potential of wine from his estate combines with his own innate talent as a winemaker to deliver a compelling addition to the library of German wines. With an underlying minerality, his wines retain freshness and elegance for decades. According to wine critic Stephan Reinhardt, these are wines of an “unrivalled balance of fruit and salty-mineral piquancy that makes you reach for another glass, again and again.”