Razor's Edge
By Tim Gaiser, MS.
Wilhelm Weil discussing the 2001
vintage video
"White wine is electricity." James Joyce
June 2002;
Last night I helped out with a benefit dinner/silent auction in Napa
for a good friend and colleague in the wine business. After pouring
wine for the attendees I was seated at a table for dinner and plied
with wine questions throughout the meal from the other diners. At some
point I was asked, "what's your favorite white wine?" "German
Riesling," was my reply and it was quickly followed by a stunned
silence. Finally someone ventured to say, "but they're so ... sweet
..." Such is the fate, and common misconception, of German Riesling
here in the U.S. In fact I would go as far as to say that German Riesling
is the Rodney Dangerfield of the wine world: it doesn't get any respect.
I completely understand why. My own early experiences with the ill-fated
grape were of Blue Nun and the like: insipid, vacuous, sweet plonk worthy
only of a blending tank or bag-in-a-box at best. I never had the slightest
inkling that Riesling could be something complex and profound.
A recent visit to Robert Weil in Germany's Rheingau region proved all
this and more. The estate is owned by Suntory, the Japanese drinks giant.
And though the history of the wine and spirits industry is full of disastrous
mergers and acquisitions by foreign investors, this is one instance
where the marriage has worked to perfection. Under Suntory's umbrella
and the strong leadership of Wilhelm Weil (fourth generation), the estate
has remained one of Germany's very best over the last decade. In fact,
Hugh Johnson once called Robert Weil's Kiedricher Gräfenberg Trockenbeerenauslese
the greatest white wine in the world. Having tasted several vintages
of this ambrosia, I'm not one to argue.
The Gräfenberg is one of the Rheingau's greatest sites. Weil owns
some nine of eleven hectares of the vineyard, itself a long steep slope
with a perfect southerly exposure. Legend has it that when the Romans
decided to plant vineyards in what is now the Rheingau, they watched
the slopes from the opposite shore of the river to see where the snows
first melted. One can only assume that the Gräfenberg was one of
these prized sites. The soil profile is also unique. It's heavy and
dense with gravel-phyllite and portions of loam and loess. It also contains
a good deal of slate unlike other parts of the Rheingau. The Riesling
grown here reflects the rich, slatey soil with its depth of flavor,
concentration and sheer power.
The style of the Robert Weil Rieslings is one of exceptional purity
of fruit with the Gräfenberg terroir front and center--all supported
by acidity that is at times shocking, if not bracing. Jochen Becker-Köhn,
export manager for the estate, has told me more than once that the Gräfenberg
Rieslings are known as the "Mosel wines" of the Rheingau because
of their delicacy of fruit and finesse. I would go one more by saying
that the Weil Rieslings combine the power of the Rheingau with the delicacy
and elegance of the Mosel--an incredible high-wire balancing act. But
there's also a tremendous minerality and a piercing intensity that one
rarely encounters in any other white wine (Grand Cru Chablis from one
of the best producers comes close). The phrase "liquid light saber"
comes to mind.
Perhaps the character of the Weil Rieslings can partially be explained
by the fact that the wines are done completely in stainless steel. The
only wood in the cellar is reserved for the 4,000-5,000 bottles of Pinot
Noir sold exclusively at the estate. In my experience stainless steel
gives young Riesling a focus and angular intensity quite unlike wines
fermented in the more traditional large barrels. The other ingredients
of the Weil recipe are equally vital: low yields in the vineyard with
an average of 55 hectoliters per hectare over the last ten years. All
harvesting is done by hand and the selection is incredibly rigorous--in
some cases a berry-by-berry process. Once pressed, the must spends 12-14
hours clarifying before fermentation begins, and the fermentation itself
is long, slow and gentle. During the two months prior to bottling, the
young wines are racked 4-6 times into different tanks, always maintaining
a constant temperature of four degrees C to prevent oxidation. The wines
are filtered only once before bottling.
The sum total of all this tremendous effort is a collection of true
vin de garde; incredibly concentrated and complex wines most of which
will easily age for decades in a proper cellar. During the recent visit
I was poured a taste of the 1971 Gräfenberg Auslese. Still showing
green in the color, the 1971 was a remarkably complex glass of wine
with plenty of life still ahead. I expect the same for the estate's
brilliant 2001 vintage.
The 2001 vintage was the thirteenth consecutive year where all pradikat
levels were made at the estate, itself a remarkable accomplishment.
Here are my notes for the wines. In place of ludicrous (and useless)
numerical scores, I have used a tasting chart created by Peter Granoff,
MS. The chart is based on a one-through-seven scale (one being the lowest
and seven the highest) that covers, in order, the following criteria:
intensity of flavor, dryness/sweetness, body, acidity, tannin, oak,
and complexity. Thus a light bodied wine will be listed as 2 or 3 in
the third slot, while a rich, full-bodied wine will weigh in at 6 or
7. Likewise, a bone-dry wine will be listed as 1 in the second slot
while an intensely sweet wine (such as a BA or TBA) will rate a 6 or
7. And so on and so forth. I've also subdivided the notes into sight
(S), nose (N), and palate (P) with the numbers of the tasting chart
listed afterwards.
Tasting Notes:
2001
1. QbA Trocken (not chaptalized)
S: Medium straw green.
N: Pineapple/lemon touch floral.
P: Seamless and elegant. Tart apple and long mineral finish.
4-2-3-6-1-1-4
2. Kabinett Trocken
S: Pale straw green.
N: Floral, pippin apple, kiwi, earth/mineral. Reductive, closed.
P: Mineral front and center. Lemon/pepper/mineral finish. Very precise
and focused.
4-1-3/4-6-1-1-4+
3. Spätlese Trocken
S: Pale straw green.
N: Lemon curd, floral, mineral.
P: Liquid light saber. Piercing fruit and acidity. Intense minerality
but elegant and seamless. Long, persistent.
5-1-4-7-1-1-5
4. Gräfenberg Erstes Gewächs
S: Medium straw green.
N: Pear/lemon curd, white pepper, floral, mineral.
P: Racy, intense, lithe. Porche-like. Very high acid and great length.
Impressive.
5-1-4-7-1-1-5/6
5. Rheingau Riesling Kabinett Halbtrocken
S: Medium straw green.
N: Pear/kiwi, floral and mineral.
P: Clean, crisp, focused.
4-2-3-7-1-1-4
6. Rheingau Spätlese
S: Very pale straw green.
N: Floral, kiwi, pippin apple, mineral.
P: Essence of tart pippin apple. Juicy, mouthwatering. Long intense
mineral finish.
5-4-3-7-1-1-5
7. Gräfenberg Spätlese
S: Medium straw green.
N: Guava/kiwi with touch of pear, floral and mineral.
P: Pedigree with a capital "P". Rich, vibrant, intense, focused.
Long finish with bracing acidity and pronounced minerality.
5-4-3-7-1-1-5+
8. Gräfenberg Auslese
S: Medium straw green.
N: Honey, nectarine, guava, pepper-mineral.
P: Powerful with quite a bit of botrytis. Stonefruits, honey, mineral.
Long, intense finish.
6-6-4-7-1-1-6
9. Gräfenberg Auslese Goldkap
S: Medium straw green.
N: Butter, honey-mineral with ripe stonefruits and tangerine.
P: Declassified BA--rich, viscous and complex. Succulent rocket fuel.
6-6-4-7-1-1-6+
10. Gräfenberg BA
S: Medium yellow green.
N: Botrytis abyss. Honied stone fruits, tangerine marmalade, oolong
tea, mineral.
P: Staggering concentration of fruit. Incredibly sweet but not cloying.
Easily 30-40 years in the cellar. Thrilling.
7-7-4-7-1-1-6/7
11. Gräfenberg Eiswein
S: Pale yellow green.
N: A blast of ripe pear/green apple, celery-vegetal, honey and mineral.
P: Ambrosia with a jet pack. Bracing acidity. Remarkable length. Insulin
shock wine.
7-7-5-7-1-1-6
Copyright © May 2002 Tim Gaiser, MS
Rudi Wiest Selections
by Cellars International, Inc.
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