Villa Sandahl Ball of Fame Rhine Riesling 2017

While most white wines are consumed young, the queen of white grapes, Rhine Riesling should age to reach her peak. Ageing gracefully results in complexity and richness combined with elegance. This is why Villa Sandahl does not rush to the market, vintage 2017 is still on sale, though it is their „senior” wine on the shelf now.

Three consecutive miraculous years

Villa Sandahl is a peculiar estate in many ways, one specialty is that they have a different set of labels every year, and always there is an inspiration. In 2017 it was magic, because, as they say „this is the third year in a row that we produce very high quality” – it is a kind of magic… And what is the ball here? „The Sandahl ball has many times been a symbol for how Villa Sandahl see itself as located out of the box. Now a magician has taken over the ball to illustrate our best wine from 2017.” Indeed, the Sandahls are out of the box not only with their ever-changing labels, but with their focus on one single grape, namely the Rhine Riesling. We can confidently say that Villa Sandahl is the only winery (with significant presence on the market) with wines made of only one grape variety. If you check the website of the winery, you will see that even one single grape can offer countless opportunities depending on the vineyard, the date of harvest, and also the fraction of the must to be used.

How it evolves with time

The data sheets of Villa Sandahl wines are gold mines for students of wine: they detail not only the dates and characteristics of the harvest or the analytics, but they also contain tasting notes written by the owner, Christer Sandahl, at different times. According to the first tasting (January 2019) the wine has fantastic silky character, very balanced and it „is surprisingly open to be our highest quality, which normally use to be closed and shy at this point of time.” In 2021, according to Christer Sandahl it is already a „grown up”, and „surprisingly well developed (even with our own standard), clean, open, nice, well-made, refreshing, all such attractive characteristics”. And now? „Full and creamy sip, long finish, petrol, citrus, quince with honey, dried peach.”

See the whole, detailed data sheet here

More about Villa Sandahl

Villa Sandahl wines are available in several countries, first of all (after Hungary) in Sweden, due to the nationality of the owner. At Systembolaget a wide range of Villa Sandahl wines are available. If you are interested in importing these top-quality, terroir driven wines, contact the team.

The success of another 2017 vintage Villa Sandahl wine

Rabbit Periscope Rhine Riesling – the Winewriters’ choice

Sandahl Rezidencia – the perfect escape

“Sandahl Rezidencia” is a 4-room guest house, which is located in the central building of the Sandahl Promo house in the “Genesis” vineyard. Surrounded by fabulous and peaceful environment, visitors are guaranteed to be recharged. The house offers the most beautiful panorama of Badacsony, one of the most picturesque slices of the Lake Balaton landscape. The rooms and furniture are of typical Scandinavia design, appreciated in whole Europe. The place is really a sought-after guest house, thus it is advised to book well ahead.
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