Ürziger Underground
Issue 3
by Mark Huebner, December 2002
2001 - a great vintage - get some while you can
We aren't often in the position to say I told you so, plus no one likes
to hear it. To be absolutely honest, Cellars International has never
quite been in a position like this ever before. We knew the 2001 vintage
was turning into something special even before many of the wines were
in the bottle. Considering the struggle to persuade customers to look
beyond the negative press on the 2000 vintage (and find some very good
wines), the frenzied anticipation for the '01s caught us all off guard.
It seemed as if consumers were waiting at the docks, corkscrews in hand,
waiting for the fleet to roll in. Those who heeded our Vintage Report,
released in February, were already turning in orders for wine not yet
loaded on containers. Fritz Haag and Reinhold Haart, estates with a
longstanding following of devotees, sold out immediately. A handful
of other estates followed suit, hinting that for the first time in our
twenty year history we were out of some of our reservations before embarking
on our 2002 September US tour.
When legitimate wine press regarding the vintage began surfacing, it
was clear there would soon be a feeding frenzy. There has been. Still,
estates that produced stunning wines are available for the picking.
No one should overlook the youngest superstar of the 'Haag Trinity',
Oliver Haag, at Wegeler's important Rheingau property. The Estate
Riesling medium-dry has fresh peachy-raspberry and lilac perfume…
clear, clean and pure with a refreshing strawberry / orange crème
center; ripe and round with firm minerality. The Wegeler Rüdesheimer
Berg Rottland Spatlese continues to be a sleeper in our book…dense
strawberry, orange and pear aromas can barely hint at the spicy, rich,
compact implosion of sour plum, peach and citrus at the core…sophisticated
and powerful…a Czar as much as a star! The Wegeler Geisenheimer
Rothenberg Auslese echos the same peach, strawberry and citrus with
an additional layer of ultra-ripe concentration…still compact,
slender and fine yet driven by deeper mineral details. These beauties
are still available along with a smattering of estates still wading
ashore, including some breathtaking selections from Karthäuserhof
and Gunderloch.
The Karthäuserhof Kabinett is a sexy spray of smoke and
cherries…minerally exhaust, sour plum and cassis scramble the nose
like a much bigger wine…ripe, plump cherry, pineapple and citrus
drizzled through a fine mesh of minerality. The Spätlese is as
restrained as any atomic fruit basket can be (while disguising itself
as a Zen rock garden). Sleek, compact and pure…if wines could only
figure skate…
Anyone who hasn't filled out his wish list for Gunderloch goodies
may soon be the unhappiest kid on the block this December. The Gunderloch
Nackenheimer Rothenberg Spätlese is diesel-spiked with sparkly
raspberry / grapefruit jam cake extracted from North Polar volcanoes…and
there will be plenty of the perennial favorite Gunderloch Jean-Baptiste
Kabinett (which actually does come with batteries).
Don't dismay at the evaporating library of 2001s…there is still
an egg hunt for those who think they might have missed the rabbit. At
any rate, consider this all a training camp for the 2002 vintage which
is rumored to already be hatching a grudge match with last year's star
clusters. Easily surpassing his last two vintages, Hanno Zilliken already
has a spring collection in the making…a showcase of QbA up through
Auslese fashioned with a designer's eye for ripeness and acidity that
may shift the focus beyond the current '01 gorging trend. Gunderloch
and Pfeffingen have similar reactions to the potential of 2002 while
Oliver Haag at Wegeler insists it will be a topper.
Rudi Wiest Selections
by Cellars International, Inc.
phone 760.566.0499 - info@germanwine.net - fax 760.566.0533
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