St. Nikolaus Hospital
D-54479 Bernkastel-Kues Mosel
Member - Bernkasteler-Ring
The St. Nikolaus Hospital was founded in 1458 by theologian and Cardinal Nikolaus Cusanus, who was born in Kues in 1401. I believe it's basically an old folk's home funded by wine-growing.
There is a Vinothek associated with the weingut (and also a wine museum), and you can find them at www.moselweinmuseum.de. However it appears that their previous online store is no longer available even to customers in Germany. They also do not export wine to Britain. They do accept credit cards for personal visitors now, though, and they offer tastings of around 160 wines during the summer, which costs around €12, but which excludes rarities such as eiswein. Click here to see a picture. They are in Kues, directly across the river from Bernkastel Church and tourist centre (over the bridge and turn right, then right again into the courtyard).
1998 Bernkasteler Badstube Riesling Eiswein 375 ml.
€24-32 (depending on where you buy it)
Tasted regularly from 2003 to present. (I have drunk over 60 halves of this wine!)
This wine has matured considerably over the last 12-18 months. There is fairly heavy botrytis both on the nose and palate now (I had previously noted far less), with quite a lot less of the highly complex slatey minerality I had previously seen. I would previously have been easily able to have identified this wine blind as a Bernkasteler Badstube, now I'm not so sure. Still very fine though.
Will not improve further, but will last for around 10 years, maybe more.
19/20
This wine is only available to personal buyers from several of the small shops in Bernkastel and the weingut's own vinothek, although not from the vinothek website, even for customers in Germany.