International Wine Cellar
Issue 100
Germany 2000: Rot and Redemption Jan/Feb '02
By David Schildknecht
The decade of the 1990s was an extraordinary one for German vintners.
At its midpoint (back in Issue 64), I wrote: "We are in the midst
of a streak of vintages utterly unprecedented in the history of German
viticulture." And I hadn't seen or tasted the half of it! Extreme
summer heat and drought have so often been followed by September or October
rain that weather patterns exceptional by long-term standards came to
seem commonplace. "Every year starts out like it's going to be 1976
all over again, but then it rains," is how Johannes Leitz put it.
In some years, rain has ushered in benevolent botrytis; in other vintages,
riesling has resisted to such an extent that it came up rot-free. How
often have I heard, in one or another variation, the adage that riesling
can resist the rain if only the sun eventually returns? The gustatory
evidence for this adage has been compelling. But for the harvest of 2000,
neither Mother Nature nor the vintners were smiling.
In 2000, German riesling's remarkable lucky streak was broken. But so
were yet more records. April ushered in freakish summertime temperatures
and, after the flowering, growers found themselves four or more weeks
ahead of schedule. "If you were keeping score at half time,"
Johannes Selbach jokingly put it, "2000 looked like a sure win."
Then came a dramatic reversal, a cool and very rainy July. Warmth and
sun returned in August. In September, the warmth continued, but not the
sun. By October, several major growing areas had amassed 50% or more in
excess of average annual precipitation.
Grapes were rotting on the vine: not just botrytis, but penicillin and
other fungi had their way with them. As the skins of swollen grapes gave
way under mounting water pressure, they were set upon by fruit flies and
other pests that flourished well into autumn thanks to the balmy temperatures.
In the worst cases, such as in Hochheim, or in the Mittelhaardt between
Ruppertsberg and Wachenheim, vineyards literally reeked of vinegar, a
phenomenon growers could not remember happening and one that struck fear
into their hearts. Understandable anxiety led many growers to spray more
and later than they had ever done before. As Mosel vintner Stefan Justen
put it: "either you sprayed and sprayed, then prayed the grapes would
still ripen, or else you held off, you played poker, and you ended up
with a lot of botrytis, then found a way to deal with it through strict
selection at harvest and treatment of the musts in the cellar." Growers
faced an analogous dilemma with the young wines. Racking them off their
lees early might help prevent the development of off flavors, but could
also rob them of the richness they needed to balance the sharpness of
the acids.
The harvest in 2000 was thus a generally dismal and dispiriting affair,
a race against rot that even some of Germany's most ambitious and talented
vintners simply couldn't win. Others, by dint of ruthless selection, discarding
or leaving behind tainted fruit, managed to achieve success. For 2000
is not a wash-out in the ugly, underripe tradition of vintages like 1978,
1980 or 1984 (and how many wine lovers even remember that there can be
such a thing?). Most conscientious growers had ripe material in 2000,
and one tastes as much in their wines, flawed or not. But time and again,
botrytized fruit, once selected and vinified, proved to harbor the seeds
of decay. Some wines "ate" huge amounts of sulfur, becoming
aromatically stunted in the process, then gradually revealing the negative
side of rot or downright acetification. Many are the BAs and TBAs of 2000
that made it into bottle but will wisely never be released. There are
certainly a few nobly botrytized wines in this vintage worth your attention,
but they are rare exceptions. "It was hard to tell good from bad
botrytis," says Wilhelm Haag, "but you could smell the difference."
And now we come to the queerest part of this year's saga, certain wines
that botrytis spared. A few of the successful 2000s are truly extraordinary
in quality and exhibit an elegance, a buoyancy and a purity of fruit that
utterly belie the horror from which they barely escaped. The growers themselves
often seem at a loss to account for such results. Perhaps precisely the
fragility of the skins resulted in unusual aromatic complexity and delicacy
of flavor from those few plots or bunches that eluded the taint of botrytis.
"You should remember," says Helmuth Donnhoff only partly in
jest, "that from the viewpoint of a grapevine, this was a wonderful
year. All fall there was warm weather and more than ample rain. It's only
if you view things from the above-ground standpoint that they look ugly."
The fact is that happy vines pumped huge amounts of extract and retained
green foliage that kept working well into November, provided it had not
been stripped bare in a panic by growers seeking to increase air circulation
and exposure to the sun. (Unfortunately for them, there was little air
circulation or sunshine.) Ultimately, the relative absence of botrytis
in the best wines remains a testiment to scrupulous vineyard practices
year in and year out; to human labor and determination; but perhaps also
in some critical measure to a caprice of nature.
Consumers should without doubt be on their guard in exploring the vinous
products of vintage 2000. On the other hand, those who avoid the exploratory
effort will miss out on some excitement and some breathtaking beauty.
Collectors who love German riesling will want a handful of the best 2000s
in their cellars, though more typical wines of this vintage, even the
successful ones, are probably better consumed in the near term. The exceptional
wines of 2000 are in a truly glorious way typical of our winemaking era.
Neither the will nor the skill existed until very recent times to salvage
anything decent from a year like 2000, let alone to render some rieslings
worthy of awe.
The wines detailed below were tasted in the course of more than 60 estate
visits in July and August 2001. A few wines were tasted or retasted in
autumn. Except in rare circumstances where it served some explanatory
purpose, the wines are listed in the order in which they were presented
by the grower. They represent at most a third of the total number of wines
tasted; indeed, out of considerations of space the bar has been set higher
than usual for publishing complete notes. Regrettably, it was not possible
in this issue to publish notes on the 1999s from estates on which I did
not report in Issue 94. I have alluded to some of these at appropriate
points. Notes followed by a rating of "1 star" refer to wines
of particular merit. "2 stars" signifies a wine of profound
complexity. Under no circumstances, though, should these ratings be considered
in isolation from my complete tasting notes.
Schloss Lieser (Mosel valley)
Thomas Haag has bottled a collection of 2000s that are elegant and light
on their feet.His estate continues to offer formidable value at all price
levels.
2000 Schloss Lieser Riesling Kabinett
($19) The dominant fruit here is cherry, which figures since much of the
base wine is from Bernkastel (with the balance from Graach). Lively citrus
and a rather cidery spiced apple note complete the picture of this snappy,
juicy, good-value riesling. The Schloss Lieser Q.b.A. was similarly satisfying,
but slightly tart and less poised.
2000 Schloss Lieser Lieserer Niederberg Helden Riesling Spätlese
($24) This displays a lovely counterpoint of creamy richness with bright,
lemony acidity. The overall effect of the wine is elegant and fine, with
a delicate play of slate. 1 star.
2000 Schloss Lieser Lieserer Niederberg Helden Riesling Auslese
($30) Imposingly rich in its peachy fruit, creamy in texture, and not
at all tripped up by its botrytis, this is another example of the delicacy
and elegance that were achievable in vintage 2000. The finish doesn't
lack a firm slatey underpinning either, and the sweetness is nicely held
in check. 1 star.
2000 Schloss Lieser Lieserer Niederberg Helden Riesling Auslese (one star)
($30) To the peachy, creamy theme set by all of the higher residual sugar
wines this vintage at Schloss Lieser is here added a tropical fruit dimension
and a honeyed pure botrytis note. Lush and creamy, even a bit thick, and
with virtually Beerenauslese must weight, this Auslese still doesn't want
for liveliness or lift. The finish of peach, mango, honey and slate is
imposing in breadth and length. 1 star.
Joh. Jos. Prüm
(Mosel valley)
Manfred Prum expressed justifiable satisfaction with his 2000 collection.As
usual in summer, I tasted only a small subset of the estate's wines from
the latest vintage, not including those that will be auctioned or upper-Pradikat
wines. One 2000 bottling may rate designation as TBA; going into the 2001
harvest, Prüm had not yet decided that. He suggests that, like his
'98s, the 2000s require six or eight months in bottle to really display
their personalities.
2000 Joh. Jos. Prum Riesling Kabinett Graacher Himmelreich
($18) Lemon and blackcurrant aromas lead to delicate citrus and berry
character in the mouth, accented by subtle slate, salt and smoky, resinous
notes. The finish is cidery, with a nip of green apple acids and firm
slate.
2000 Joh. Jos. Prum Riesling Kabinett Wehlener Sonnenuhr
($23) Smelling of fresh apple and lemon, this is bright, crisp and delicate
in the mouth, with considerable spritz and floral and vanillin notes emerging.
Ripe and harmonious, polished and delicate, it finishes with considerable
refinement of fruit and mineral. 1 star.
2000 Joh. Jos. Prum Riesling Spätlese Wehlener Sonnenuhr
($32) Like the corresponding Kabinett, this shows considerable delicacy
along with its pure, healthy ripeness, and the classic Sonnenuhr building
blocks of apple and vanilla in spades. This is creamier and richer in
texture than the corresponding Kabinett, with more underlying vanillin.
The counterpoint of delicate acids and spritz with creamy richness is
a delight. The bitter side of vanilla and the wine's overtly wet stone
slate character help add interest to the finish and provide contrast to
the sweetness. 1 star.
2000 Joh. Jos. Prum Riesling Auslese Graacher Himmelreich
($25) Candied lemon, baked apple and an unusual note of blueberry expressively
scent this Auslese. Intense apple and blue fruit flavors are tempered
by a singed, smoky edge and tart fruit skin character. The mouth feel
is creamy and polished. The finish introduces a spiritous twist to the
fruit, subtly signaling botrytis, and a cinnamon bun character of brown
spice and primary yeastiness. A piquant botrytis note in the finish is
almost bitter, but attractive in the context of such honeyed richness
and abundant fruit. 1 star.
2000 Joh. Jos. Prum Riesling Auslese Wehlener Sonnenuhr
($36) Along with Sonnenuhr-typical apple and vanilla, there is an incipiently
caramelized peachy character and candied red fruit. Diversity of fruit
flavors is certainly a forte of both Prüm Auslesen I tasted. Notes
of botrytis spice, fruit skin and vanilla combine for subtly bitter and
tart finishing notes that help balance the sweetness. Like other of the
Prüm 2000s, this also displays a lot of primary yeastiness.
Fritz Haag (Mosel valley)
"For me, this is a great vintage," announced Wilhelm Haag.He
proceeded to convince me, with a collection that at times optimizes vintage
2000's potential for refinement, elegance, and a gravity-defying lightness
from rare, healthy fruit, but on other occasions takes botrytis concentration
and makes the most of it, a trick which is if anything rarer yet in this
vintage. "The later you could pick this year, the better," Haag
insists. He thinned his crop late, too, convinced that a green harvest
would only have caused the remaining fruit to swell. "We did a rigorous
selection in mid-October, removing bunches in all the vineyards?some of
Spätlese ripeness?and they became Gutsriesling [Q.b.A.]," explains
Haag. The quantity of wine bottled at the upper echelons is much reduced
this year, after a harvest of long duration but extreme selectivity and
a consequently meager crop.
2000 Fritz Haag Riesling Kabinett
($20) This riesling from the Juffer vineyard exhibits the salty, citric
combination of minerals and fruit acids familiar in this vintage, both
of which serve to nicely balance the sweetness. Taut and minerally, this
finely-poised wine also displays subtle and engaging inner-mouth florality.
The strong finish manages to be juicy and yet primarily stony. 1 star.
2000 Fritz Haag Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett
($26) Honeysuckle, almond, melon and Golden Delicious apple signify a
level of ripeness well beyond that of Haag's estate Kabinett from the
Juffer. Elegant and creamy in the mouth, with lovely melon and apple fruit
and an upwelling of nut oils, this trades transparency and minerality
for richness.
2000 Fritz Haag Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese
($33) Aromas of melons, mango and baked apple lead into a creamy, polished
and delicate palate on which are displayed flowers, peach, apple and tropical
fruits. This is a prime instance of the Juffer-Sonnenuhr formula: slate
in the background as a sounding board for generous fruit. The finish here
is quite rarified, with pure fruit and floral essences in a long caress.
Potential 2 stars.
2000 Fritz Haag Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese
($43) This is A.P. #6, but you won't have to look for that little number
because it is the only non-gold capsule Auslese here of the vintage. Baked
apple, toasted hazelnut and cream aromas strike the theme for this entire
wine. In the mouth, it is creamy, rich and subtly marked by pure, unblemished
fruits, nuts and flowers. Rich but not quite fat, its sweetness is clearly
buffered by enormous extract, yet the wine seems almost weightless in
the mouth. The long finish brings together baked apple, lemon cream, toasted
nuts and a puff pastry combination of butter, cream and yeast. 2 stars.
2000 Fritz Haag Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Gold Cap
A.P. #9
($43) This A.P. #9 is the only gold capsule Auslese of the vintage at
Haag. Botrytis is evident in an aroma featuring brine, woodsmoke, singed
peach and pineapple. On the palate, this is a tad fiery in its pungency.
With its penetrating pungent spice and sharp citricity, this tastes like
the wine that was exorcised from the dreamy, elegant, "regular"
Auslese. 1 star.
2000 Fritz Haag Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Long Gold
Cap
($43) Now we have A.P. #13 and the lone long gold capsule Auslese of the
vintage here. One's nose is blasted with white raisin, honey, pure botrytisin
and distilled pear. Pungent spice and bright citricity in the mouth, together
with tart pear skin and salty mineral traces, create a Pavlovian response.
Dense, rich and meaty, this wine finishes with lemon, woodsmoke, tart
fruit skin and intense slate and salty minerality. "The acid is so
high, it's crazy," says Haag. To say this is likely to be a long
keeper and to provide dynamic entertainment would be a grave understatement.
2 stars.
2000 Fritz Haag Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Beerenauslese
($122; for 375 ml.) Peach jam, almond paste, vanilla and orange marmalade
characterize the bouquet presented by this very subtly botrytized, refined
and elegant wine. Creamy and polished in texture, this is shot through
with ripe, persistent, but not at all sharp acidity. Pineapple, peach,
lemon, orange and white raisin flavors swell into the finish. A firm note
of slate is much more evident here than one would expect at this level
of ripeness. This wine, the result of sporadic selection over nearly a
month, marries the creamy, elegant, enveloping character of Haag's "regular"
Auslese (A.P. #6) with some of the overt citricity and drive of the long
gold capsule Auslese (#13). 2 stars. (I defer judgment on Haag's viscous
and concentrated, yet prickly and dry-fruited, 2000 TBA.)
Reinhold Haart (Mosel valley)
All of Haart's 2000s fermented spontaneously and slowly. A couple of the
wines had only just been bottled when I visited in July. Haart frequently
found himself removing the tips of each bunch so as to eliminate negatively
botrytized material. One of Germany's most consistently excellent growers,
Haart can boast some of the finest offspring of the 2000 vintage. From
2001, Haart expects to again bottle Wintricher Ohligsberg Riesling from
now three-year-old vines.
2000 Reinhold Haart Gutsriesling
($15) Coming largely from his diverse, small parcels in Dhron and Trittenheim,
Haart's basic estate riesling is this year, as usual, a fine success and
a great value. Blackcurrant, nut oils and lemon cream are nicely set off
by judicious sweetness. This is doughy, leesy and substantial in the mouth,
but certainly not shapeless or lacking in fresh acids. The finish is nicely
punctuated with tart pit fruit skin character and long on nut oils. 1
star.
2000 Reinhold Haart Riesling Kabinett Piesporter Goldtropfchen
($22) Aromatically restrained in its citrus and tropical fruit. In the
mouth, the creamy baked apple and tropical fruit of this Kabinett is set
off by site-typical nuttiness and cassis, both almost bitter in their
effect. A sweet florality wafts unexpectedly into view. Tingling lemony
acids provide further contrast. Somehow, the diverse pieces fall into
place in a harmonious finish. 1 star.
2000 Reinhold Haart Riesling Spätlese Piesporter Goldtropfchen
($31) Musky, cantaloupe aroma leads to honey and muskmelon in the mouth.
The texture is like satin, leesy and dense, and the fruit, despite exotic
notes from its brush with botrytis, and despite its overripe and rather
low acid character, is nevertheless juicy and satisfying. 1 star.
2000 Reinhold Haart Riesling Auslese Piesporter Goldtropchen
($40; A.P. #10) There is a lovely honeyed, incipiently white raisin, tiny-berry
concentration about this wine, as well as loads of site-typical tropical
fruit. Pure botrytisin and apple jelly flavors in the mouth, together
with a creamy texture, do not preclude a freshness and lift that make
drinking this wine a thirst-slaking pleasure. The botrytis here has added
complexity and exotic notes without drying up the fruit or spoiling the
sheer charm. There are only 260 bottles of this wine. 2 stars.
2000 Reinhold Haart Riesling Auslese Piesporter Goldtropchen
($40; A.P. #11) Asked "why not Gold Capsule?" since he's auctioning
it, Haart replied that he would only so-designate a wine with botrytis
character, and this has almost none. Marzipan, honey, toasted hazelnut
and butter cream: the flavors here suggest something to slather on toast,
and the wine's viscosity, too, invites this. Yet there is that rare elegance,
polish and lightness in the mouth shown by only a few of the best 2000s
and a ravishingly pure finish. Unfortunately, there are only 160 half-bottles.
2 stars.
2000 Reinhold Haart Riesling Beerenauslese Piesporter Goldtropfchen
($40) Grilled pineapple covered with brown sugar flavors dominate in a
creamy, dense, viscous mouthful, with caramel apple, honey and marzipan
notes lifted by fresh apple and apricot. As with the great Beerenauslesen
so often achieved by Willi Schaefer, one has the sense of nobly botrytized
and fresh fruit layers, corresponding to a careful mixture of fruit that
includes still-healthy, juicy, green-gold berries. Like the other best
wines here today, there is a lightness of touch despite viscosity, and
a formidable polish, purity and length. 2 stars.
Karthäuserhof (Ruwer valley)
Christoph and Marcel Tyrell were quite proud of what they achieved at
the basic quality levels in such a difficult year. The wines tend not
to exhibit as much spice as is typical for this estate and the acid levels
are quite low, with textures often rather milky. Despite those reservations,
there is some charm in the wines here and no major missteps occurred.
2000 Karthauserhof Eitelsbacher Karthauserhofberg Riesling Trocken
($88) Redcurrant, gooseberry and pungent herbs mark the nose. In the mouth,
a bath of tart fruits and aromatic herbals, with a subtly sweet note of
Meyer lemon and hazelnut. There is a fine mineral extension beneath persistent
citrus, red berry and nut oil. 1 star.
2000 Karthauserhof Eitelsbacher Karthauserhofberg Riesling Halbtrocken
($17) This wine offers movie theater ambience: the most vivid buttered
popcorn aroma I can remember in any wine (and certainly can't remember
in a riesling). More typical spiced apple and cooked red fruit aromas
and flavors are also present. The palate is creamy but delineated. The
finish is all red fruit, herbs, apple and spice, without the popcorn.
2000 Karthauserhof Riesling Spätlese
($27) There is only a small lot of this lone Spätlese, picked over several
slightly drier days. Cooked redcurrant, honey and melon merge into a soft
and ingratiating whole, accented by some Ruwer-typical brown spice character
that's missing in most of the 2000s at this address. There is a bit of
milkiness on the palate but that fits the whole picture nicely. This also
displays a brothy, Chablis-like minerality, flatteringly bound to the
layers of soft ripe fruits and brown spices. Gentle, but long. 1 star.
Zilliken - Forstmeister Geltz (Saar valley)
Hanno Zilliken has managed considerable consistency over the years, and
his collection in 2000 has beaten the vintage odds, comprising wines with
clarity and verve.
2000 Zilliken Saarburger Rausch Riesling Trocken
($19) High-quality Qualitatswein has long been a feature of Zilliken's
collections and this year is no exception: all three bottlings are astonishingly
good for the price. After Saar-typical cherry-almond aromas, the palate
of this dry Q.b.A. is oily in texture and positively starched with slate-mineral
extract, buffering the acids and lending gravity to the ripe cherry and
apple fruit and lively notes of citrus. This was from fruit picked near
the end of the harvest. 1 star.
2000 Zilliken Saarburger Rausch Riesling Halbtrocken
($15) This is archetypical Saar wine with abundant apple, almond and cherry
fruit and subtle slate delivered up on a soothing, glycerine-rich palate.
The finish brings a subtle interplay of fruit, mineral and flowers. 1
star.
2000 Zilliken Saarburger Rausch Riesling
($15) The highest of Zilliken's three Q.b.A.s in residual sugar, this
is creamy and broad in the mouth, scented and flavored with Golden Delicious
apple, tropical fruits and peach. A little brightness and density might
be given up here vis-a-vis the drier versions, but it is made up for in
generosity of fruit. There is more than enough acidity to give the wine
a sense of lift in the finish. 1 star.
2000 Zilliken Saarburger Rausch Riesling Kabinett
($20) Delicate aromas of sweet clover and lime waft from the glass. Creamy
in the mouth and superbly well balanced so that one doesn't think about
the sugar, this finishes vibrantly, with vivid lime, a touch of raw almond
and subtle slate. 1 star.
2000 Zilliken Saarburger Rausch Riesling Auslese Gold Capsule
($20; A.P. #1) Clear and bright in color and flavor, this half-Eiswein
is severely intense in its aromas and flavors of citrus, tropical fruit
and pungent spices. Luscious pineapple, apricot and passion fruit follow
in a long, honeyed finish not without a distinct note of slate. 1 star.
Emrich-Schönleber (Nahe region)
Werner Schonleber cites loose clusters and delayed ripening as factors
that helped save him from the worst effects of summer and autumn rains,
but not before he contended for a second straight year with hail in the
Halenberg on top of the more usual calamities of vintage 2000. A clear,
dry late October made possible a number of wines that exhibit sap and
juiciness on the palate, betraying a rude good health absent from so many
2000s. In fact, Schonleber's is one of those rare collections from this
year that are almost universally on a high level of quality, perhaps without
anything to compare with the handful of vintage superstars, but absolutely
nothing disappointing either.
2000 Emrich Schonleber Monzinger Halenberg Riesling Spätlese trocken
($150) This exhibits a lipsmackingly lively fresh red fruit character
that is rare in vintage 2000. The palate impression is dense but bright.
There is a strongly mineral shrimp shell and iodine note in the finish
that marries nicely with the tartness of red berry. 1 star.
2000 Emrich Schonleber Monzinger Halenberg Riesling Spätlese trocken
($150; A.P. #14) Smoky red berry notes mark the aroma here. Denser and
more concentrated than the corresponding dry Frühlingsplatzchen Spätlese,
this has an oily feel and a touch of bitterness in the lime zest-flavored
finish. Halenberg is a site whose dry wines have frequently demonstrated
their success at coming to terms with botrytis, so I would be tempted
to bet on this wine's improvement. Potential 1 star.
2000 Emrich Schonleber Monzinger Halenberg Riesling Spätlese trocken
($150; A.P. #15) Black raspberry and blackcurrant aromas. Clear and bright
in the mouth, with an attractively glossy texture, this exhibits a seamlessness
and a fruit and mineral length that the "regular" Halenberg
Spätlese Trocken (A.P. #14) couldn't quite match. 1 star.
2000 Emrich Schonleber Monzinger Frahlingsplatzchen Grauburgunder Spätlese
Trocken
($27) This is another convincing Schonleber performance with pinot gris.
His renditions have all the peachiness, smokiness and textural allure
you should expect from this grape variety, with all the red fruit and
mineral notes of their terroir. There was a good pinot gris Q.b.A. Trocken
as well, but this Spätlese goes well beyond that in quality. An attractive
note of lanolin on the nose signals the wine's sojourn in cask, and the
palate is quite creamy, with flavors of pineapple, toasted almond and
coconut mingling with peach and cooked red fruits. Creamy and full of
fruit, the finish introduces subtle smokiness. 1 star.
2000 Emrich Schonleber Monzinger Riesling
($17) Sappy and juicy in the mouth, this shows a delicate interplay of
red fruits, citrus and minerals. A hazelnut cream flavor runs underneath
the aforementioned elements, emerging in the finish together with a fine,
sweet florality. The overall impression is quite layered and complex,
particularly for a wine of its price. 1 star.
2000 Emrich Schonleber Monzinger Halenberg Riesling Spätlese halbtrocken
($22) Fresh peach and tangerine with a note of woodsmoke put one in mind
of a Nackenheimer. Vivid citricity and salty minerality characterize a
palate that is doughy and substantial, yet lively and sleek. There is
an entirely flattering honeyed note from botrytis in the finish which
does not diminish the juicy, refreshing character of the fruit. 1 star.
2000 Emrich Schonleber Monzinger Halenberg Riesling Spätlese
($22) Pineapple, lemon and strawberry aromas lead to a luscious citrus
and red fruit-filled palate that displays concentration and extract, subtle
but distinctive minerality, and a sweetness that is perfectly judged.
Like several Schonleber 2000s, this shows a lovely toasted nut character
that emerges most strongly in the finish, perhaps a subtle sign of the
botrytis to which fully half of the fruit informing this wine had succumbed.
Potential 2 stars.
2000 Emrich Schonleber Monzinger Fruhlingsplatzchen Riesling Spätlese
($22) This wine, too, had fully a 50% botrytis component, but you would
never guess that given the subtlety of fruit and floral aromas and the
clear, pure red raspberry fruit that emerges on the palate. The finish,
while not offering the last word in complexity, is long on red fruits,
with an impeccable balance of sweetness. 1 star.
2000 Emrich Schonleber Monzinger Halenberg Riesling Auslese Gold Capsule
($22; A.P. #23) Peach jam, orange marmalade and lemon on the nose set
one up for a decidedly botrytis-inflected palate impression of honey and
oil. For all of its honeyed richness, this still carries a lot of juicy,
fresh fruit into its long finish. 1 star.
Robert Weil (Rheingau region)
This year's collection at Weil is bound to engender controversy. Applying
their usual approach of protracted harvest, this estate ended up with
some highly unusual wines at the levels of Auslese and above, exceedingly
dense but often of a decidedly oxidative cast, and a relative paucity
of Kabinett and Spätlese. The wines all possess freakishly high levels
of dry extract despite the necessity for very gentle pressing, which encourages
Wilhelm Weil in the belief that they will on the whole age well. "I
think this is a great vintage for us," he claims, "but its greatness
lies completely outside of the usual norms." In addition to the wines
canvassed below, there was also an Eiswein, picked January 17, which I
did not taste.
2000 Robert Weil Riesling Trocken
($33) The aromas of ripe tomato and smoked meats here could almost be
those of a pinot noir. In the mouth, an apple cider character is allied
to a meat broth expression of chalky terroir A faint florality emerges
with aeration. Clean, fresh, ripe acidity successfully drives the finish.
This wine represents the bulk of the estate's production, particularly
in this vintage.
2000 Robert Weil Riesling Kabinett Trocken
($33) Delicate floral, citrus and chalk dust notes in the nose signal
a wine of considerable delicacy and refinement for the vintage. Juicy
and fresh in the mouth, this Kabinett deploys its abundant acidity to
good effect, saturating the palate with long-lasting cherry, lemon, white
peach and chalk. 1 star.
2000 Robert Weil Kiedricher Gräfenberg Riesling Erstes Gewachs
($33) This wine stands in stark stylistic contrast to the dry estate Spätlese.
It shows diverse scents of flowers, peach pit, white pepper and chalk
dust. The palate is incredibly dense, intensely salty (no doubt a reflection
of the wine's enormous extract), and faintly warm and oily, quite possibly
a reflection of incipient botrytis. The finish is austere but impressively
long, displaying overt chalkiness, lime, grapefruit, peach pit and apricot
kernel. 1 star. There are 580 cases of Erstes Gewachs this year. Weil
wants to see dry Gräfenberg Spätlese phased out of his line-up in deference
to Erstes Gewachs, a designation now being used at many estates for the
top dry wines from the best sites. I must say, though, that the wines
I have so far tasted in this new category, and not just chez Weil, have
lacked the interplay and natural sense of balance of the best Spätlese
Trocken. Could it be a case of growers trying too hard to make the proverbial
big statement?
2000 Robert Weil Riesling Halbtrocken
($33) A lime sherbet nose is followed by a milky, glossy, limey, faintly
sweet palate impression, with subtle herbs and inner-mouth florality.
There is less grip but more delicacy and charm here than in the dry version
of the estate riesling. The buoyancy and elegance hark back to the dry
Kabinett and are typical of a few of those 2000s that seem to have utterly
defied the odds. 1 star.
2000 Robert Weil Riesling
($19) Ripe peach and mineral salts are the dominant flavors here, but
some subtle nut oils and fruit pits nicely add to the finishing flavors.
This is what is sold in Japan and America as Weil Estate Riesling. Wilhelm
Weil would like to see this and the halbtrocken version of basic estate
riesling conflated into a single wine. Production of both is small compared
with that of the estate riesling trocken.
2000 Robert Weil Riesling Auslese Kiedricher Gräfenberg
($19) In Wilhelm Weil's words, "Here comes the massive botrytis."
Nature (with help from the market) denied him any off-dry Spätlese in
a vintage where botrytis was rapidly pushing fruit in the direction of
Auslese and beyond, and the relatively clean fruit was needed for dry
wine categories. This wine has far in excess of the minimum must weight
for BA and a dry extract normally only achievable with TBA. In the nose,
sharp chili pepper, ginger and lemon zest all betray both the botrytis
and a quite high acidity. Smoke and resin aromatic notes, along with the
deep color, suggest a significant but not unpleasant degree of oxidative
development. None of this aromatic foreplay really prepares the taster
for a palate experience that is highly refined in its pure, apple jelly,
peach-and-honey way, and remarkably elegant and light despite high viscosity.
The finish is juicy and citric, lemon and orange enlivening the peach
preserve and apple jelly. Vibrant acids propel the finish, which utterly
belies the high residual sugar that's present. 2 stars.
2000 Robert Weil Riesling Beerenauslese Kiedricher Gräfenberg
($19) Dark reddish; old TBA color. Dried peach, apricot and pear in the
nose are touched with the pungency of overt botrytis. There is a rush
of rather aggressive fresh lemon in the mouth, but with an oilier, less
spare texture than in the massive Gräfenberg gold capsule Auslese. Certainly
this has similarly astonishing viscosity. The long and powerful but almost
shrill finish shows woodsmoke, pungent resins, dried peach, fresh lemon
and citrus zest, but not sugar. One wonders: will these wines ever in
their lives show sweetness, given so much extract and acidity? I would
be a fool to render judgment at this stage.
2000 Robert Weil Riesling Kiedricher Gräfenberg Trokenbeerenauslese (half
bottle)
($19) Almost mahogany in color, this TBA gives off remarkable scents of
woodsmoke, old Calvados, lemon and orange zest, and dried apricots. In
the mouth, it's enormously viscous and betrays penetratingly high acids.
A wide range of fruit concentrates is suggested, not just peach and apricot,
but also apple and tropical fruits. The finish is truly implosive, threatening
to reduce the taster's palate to rubble. Potential 2 stars. There are
no separate gold capsule bottlings of Beerenauslese or Trockenbeerenauslese
at Weil this year.
Pfeffingen (Pfalz region)
Doris Eymael thought they would have to cart her directly from the vineyards
to the hospital last fall. The estate was desperate for pickers and every
friend, customer and family member available was pressed into long, stressful
hours of service. "You could have earned a few bottles of wine if
you'd been there," she said with a wan smile. The effort paid off
handsomely. A couple of the drier wines went in a rather austere direction,
with somewhat detached lemony acids and peach kernel bitterness, in part
ameliorated by creamy textures and sheer density. But once one enters
the realm of residual sugar, this collection finds its consistent and
mellifluous voice, blending sweetly with the botrytis where called upon.
As a matter of fact, no other estate captured the noble side of 2000 vintage
botrytis with such consistency.
2000 Pfeffingen Riesling Kabinett Ungsteiner Herrenberg
Halbtrocken Pfeffo
($19) Citric, smoky and resinous in its main themes, like most of the
2000 Pfeffingen wines, this manages an attractive balance of fresh acids
and well-integrated residual sugar. Creamy, chalky and subtly nutty on
the palate, it is more successful on its own terms than any of the trocken
wines from this estate in 2000. Grapefruit, lemon, celery seed and resin
enter into a satisfying, even gripping finish. This offers fine value.
1 star.
2000 Pfeffingen Riesling Kabinett Ungsteiner Honigsackel
($19) Sweetly spicy and tropical fruit-scented in the nose, this displays
fervent citricity, resinous pungency and faintly bitter peach pit character
as with other of the estate's 2000s, but here it's wrapped in a riper,
glossier, plusher package and delivered with an abundance of succulent
pit and tropical fruits. The balance is impeccable, relatively high residual
sugar coming off as quite restrained thanks to perky acids and underlying
extract. The finish completes a picture of forward fruit and generosity.
1 star.
2000 Pfeffingen Riesling Spätlese Ungsteiner Herrenberg
($24) White peach, Meyer lemon and grapefruit signal another 2000 in which
citrus fruit has the upper hand and analytically high sugars practically
disappear on the palate. Subtle smokiness and spice creep in on the palate,
playing attractively against pure white peach and citrus fruits. The botrytis
is as deftly and deceptively woven into the wine's fabric as the residual
sugar. Fine and long. 1 star.
2000 Pfeffingen Scheurebe Spätlese Ungsteiner Herrenberg
($24) The nose is nearly all flowering sage here. The wine comes to the
palate with more sage, grapefruit and resins, the sweetness quite supportive,
the palate oily and palpably dense, and the finish lingering with sage
and mint. This wine compels you by its sheer intensity even if the theme
is singlemindedly sweet herbs. The fruit here had very little botrytis.
1 star.
2000 Pfeffingen Scheurebe Auslese Ungsteiner Herrenberg
($24) Honey, peppermint and lemon oil in the nose lead to a luscious palate
full of spearmint and lemon candy flavors and unusually sleek and fine
despite evident botrytis. Warm and spicy in the honeyed finish. 1 star.
2000 Pfeffingen Rieslaner Beerenauslese Ungsteiner Honigsackel
(half bottle)
($24) Tangerine, grapefruit, grilled pineapple and abundant spices practically
riot in the glass. The wine rushes onto the palate with a flood of citrus
and ginger spice. Warm, rich and positively thick in the mouth, this doesn't
display the acids typical of rieslaner. The sweetness, however, pulls
back from the brink of excess even though the flavors are of honey-drenched
banana, grilled pineapple with brown sugar, and other very ripe tropical
fruits. The spice almost sizzles in the finish. 1 star.
2000 Pfeffingen Scheurebe Beerenauslese Ungsteiner Herrenberg
(half bottle)
($43; for 375 ml.) Picked in a single early November day, this scheurebe
displays a subtle aromatic interplay of noble rot and variety-typical
sweet herbs and citrus. Leesy, creamy and thick in the mouth, this is
nonetheless possessed of such intense citricity as to seem almost dry
as well as elegant and buoyant. Lemon, sage, sorrel, honey and grapefruit
display a luscious persistence. Potential 2 stars.
Gunderloch (Rheinhessen region)
"I was in the States the second week in September," relates
Fritz Hasselbach, "and every day my wife Agnes was e-mailing me pictures
of the grapes. These began to look more and more distressing, as there
was already rot. Finally I said to [my importer] Rudi 'Enough! You can
go on without me. I have to catch the next plane home.' As soon as I got
there, we started picking. And for two weeks, all we did was pick out
the rotting fruit to protect the rest. Only in that way was it possible
to launch a real harvest in our vineyards, in early October. But everywhere
I looked, grapes were rotting. It was terrible." The enormous effort
paid off in yet another of the seemingly endless progression of good to
outstanding vintages at Gunderloch.
2000 Gunderloch Jean Baptiste Riesling Kabinett
($15) Exhibiting some of the same meatiness as in the Gunderloch estate
riesling trocken, this year's Jean Baptiste also displays the more typical
peach, orange and almond in a subtle but persistent expression of Nackenheim-Nierstein
terroir The finish adds a smoky, toasted cast to the almond flavor. With
almost ten grams of acidity, it is small wonder that 23 grams of residual
sugar virtually disappear in the flavor equation, leaving an impression
of dryness but also loads of site-specific personality and sheer refreshment.
1 star.
2000 Gunderloch Riesling Spätlese Nackenheimer Rothenberg
($24) This signals a significant increase in concentration and clarity
vis-a-vis the wines that went before. Marzipan, black tea and oranges
in the nose lead to a brisk attack of citrus and smoky minerality in the
mouth. For all of its efficacious acids, though, this palpably extract-rich
riesling essence is also satiny and flatteringly full in the mouth. The
hint of tea and exotic spice that seems to signal botrytis here is certainly
understated, and the tremendous concentration and incipiently honeyed
richness has more the character of tiny, superripened but healthy fruits.
Orange, almond, and an array of subtle spice and mineral notes follow
in a long finish. 2 stars.
2000 Gunderloch Riesling Auslese Nackenheimer Rothenberg
($33) Now we have a strikingly botrytis-influenced nose of white raisin
and honey. In the mouth, these noble features become allied to orange
candy and marzipan variations on classic red soil themes. Tremendous viscosity
and concentration in the mouth do not preclude this wine's having a sense
of lift and even lightness on the palate, leading to a finish of orange
sherbet, white raisin and honey. Potential 2 stars.
2000 Gunderloch Riesling Auslese Gold Capsule Nackenheimer Rothenberg
(half bottle)
($75) Melon and tropical fruit aromas in the nose are laced with a hint
of white raisin. In the mouth, this is creamy and thick yet buoyant, delivering
formidable waves of melon and honey. The long, honeyed finish is pure
and fine. 1 star.
2000 Gunderloch Riesling Beerenauslese Nackenheimer Rothenberg (half bottle)
($125; for 375 ml.) White raisin and black tea aromas are featured here
just as in the regular Auslese. Beyond that, a more strident acidity and
more severe concentration are signaled by lemony citricity and a sharp
smoke and spice character. There is almost a metallic aspect in the mouth
and a nearly painful expression of acid concentration and pungent botrytis
spice. Whiffs of yeast and sauteed mushrooms drift in and out in the mouth
and team up with honey and citrus in a long, strident finish. Judgement
reserved.
2000 Gunderloch Riesling Eiswein Niersteiner Oelberg (half bottle)
($65; for 375 ml.) This wine is from the Balbach estate, also owned and
operated by the Hasselbachs. Here as elsewhere, there was only one occasion,
the 21st and 22nd of December, on which to harvest Eiswein. In anticipation
of such an opportunity, Fritz Hasselbach had kept returning to his one
remaining hectare of grapes and cutting out rotten bunches. By the time
frost at last arrived, there was not much fruit left, only one bunch on
most of the vines, yielding 600 liters in total, which works out to less
than one-third of a 375 ml. bottle per vine. Pure lemon and orange candy
aromas signal a palate on which a rather electric presence of acids gives
the wine a somewhat jumpy, sweet/sour sense on immediate entry. Creamy
in texture, with strong lemon meringue character, the wine nevertheless
almost magically feels weightless in the mouth, a characteristic no doubt
partly attributable to those same high acids. In the strikingly long finish,
candied citrus again dominates. Potential 2 stars.
2000 Gunderloch Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese Nackenheimer Rothenberg
(half bottle)
($250; for 375 ml.; from tank) This had only finished fermenting a few
weeks before I visited. The most prominent elements in the aroma are smoked
meat and cooked mushrooms. On the palate, citrus and botrytis emerge like
a combination of orange liqueur and pure honey. As with many of the best
2000 vins liquoreux, this manages a wonderful, improbable sense of lightness
and airiness, a subtle creaminess, and no sense of sticky surplus sweetness
while being at once incongruously viscous. The finish adds a distinct
red soil smokiness to the concentration of citrus and honey. 2 stars.
Rudi Wiest Selections
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