Koehler-Ruprecht Kallstadter Saumagen Riesling Auslese Trocken Rr

點擊次數(shù)：1708

The Koehler-Rupprecht 2009 Kallstadter Saumagen Riesling Auslese trocken RR – which represents a designation rarely employed, and which won’t be released before 2015 – offers the palpable sense of stuffing and pith familiar from the “R” bottling, but with even more intensity and a bit more alcoholic weight. Briny, alkaline scents mingle with those of corn mash, lightly cooked ginger, and pit fruit distillates. Despite its voluminous palate impression and glycerin-richness, there is an underlying firmness, and no heat is generated. The sheer finish of this wine is as impressive as that of the corresponding “R,” but emphasizes alkaline mineral traces and the piquancy of fruit pits in a way that conveys marginally less richness or diversity. I could imagine that this might lend itself to drinking slightly earlier than either of the “R” bottlings, but ought certainly to be worth following for 4-5 years after release. Bernd Philippi has a new cellarmaster, young Dominik Sona, who has his own fledgling winery amid the Pfalzerwald, well west of the Weinstrasse’s beaten track. Operating in Philippi’s long shadow could, one imagines, prove daunting, but Sona – who most recently worked for Ernst Loosen at the J. L. Wolf winery, and about whom the numerous Pfalz growers I quizzed all expressed enthusiasm – exhibits a fidelity to the established, highly-distinctive stylistic virtues of Koehler-Rupprecht, along with a wry humor and self-critical self-confidence that strike me as just right for his job. And the 2009 results certainly speak volumes not just for Sona’s aptitude but for Philippi’s promise when he sold his winery two and a half years ago that the wines as well as his own role would remain as before. Even though this estate is best-known for its dry Rieslings, Philippi has continued to render small volumes of residually sweet wine nearly every year. From 2009, though – he claims on account of vintage character not lack of demand – only two non-trocken Rieslings were essayed. (For an account of Philippi’s methodology, consult my previous reports. His “R” and “RR” reserve bottlings represent selected casks bottled at 10-11 months but cellared for years before release.)A new U.S. importer has still not been arranged, and it’s quite possible that Philippi will work with more than one.