Toni Jost Bacharacher Hahn Riesling Kabinett

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No doubt its higher level of residual sugar relative to the wines that preceded it in the Jost line-up, rather than sheer ripeness, is what brings out the site-typical tropicality in Josts’s 2010 Bacharacher Hahn Riesling Kabinett. Pink grapefruit and lychee - though also green apple - scent and lusciously inform the palate, with complementary sweetness and brightness making for invigorating and fruitful tension that carries - along with hints of caraway and apple pip - into a frisky, persistent finish. This fine value ought to perform well for well more than a decade, and reminds me of the sort of wine one associated with Hahn Kabinett during the 1980s and early 1990s. Jost’s musts - largely from late October picking - were all double-salt de-acidified, and certain lots, including the Grosse Gewachse from both Mittelrhein and Rheingau, also underwent malo-lactic transformation in the course of unusually long fermentations. “We should culture and sell whatever powerful bacteria managed this,” notes Cecilia Jost jocularly, considering the low-pH medium in which they worked even after double-salt treatment. High acids also prompted some experiments in extended lees exposure and skin contact, though I fancy the latter might in some instances have accentuated a tendency toward bitterness. (Cecelia Jost had acquired some experience with all of these approaches from her time in New Zealand.) Residual sugar was left higher, and alcohol lower than usual in the majority of these 2010s.Bill Mayer Age of Riesling Selections, imported by Valley View Wine Sales, Glen Ellen, CA; tel. (510) 549 2444; also imported by Dee Vine Wines, San Francisco, CA; tel. (877) 389-9463

Ping grapefruit, mango, and papaya tropically inform the overly sweet, 9% alcohol Jost 2009 Bacharacher Hahn Riesling Kabinett, while underlying hints of marzipan and praline lend a confectionary aura. Soothing and sweet, yet still refreshing, what this gains fruit intensity vis-a-vis the corresponding generic Kabinett feinherb it sacrifices in terms of dynamic and mineral dimension. It will however probably outlast that wine – based on a long track record – and prove worth following for more than a decade. For an account of some recent developments at this estate, please consult my report in issue 187. Interestingly, it was the wines from their Rheingau vineyards that suffered especially from sheer ripeness and consequent high alcohol; whereas the Josts’ best 2009s from their near-monopole Hahn escaped such difficulties and performed well indeed. Incidentally, every wine of the Josts’ save for their Grosse Gewachse – and that includes their two Pinots (which I don’t usually taste) – is now closed with screwcap, and they are among several growers I spoke with who intend to bottle their Grosse Gewachse with screwcap as well, as soon as the relevant bottles are available with the embossed Arabic numeral “1” and stylized grape cluster that identifies this category.Bill Mayer Age of Riesling Selections, Imported by Valley View Wine Sales, Glen Ellen, CA; tel. (510) 549 2444; also imported by Dee Vine Wines, San Francisco, CA tel. (877) 389-9463

Apricot, musk melon, quince, licorice, and candied lemon rind pour from the glass of 2008 Bacharacher Hahn Riesling Kabinett suggesting a different sort of (perhaps even here, botrytis-tinged) ripeness. While 9% in alcohol – high for sweet Kabinett in this vintage – it evinces a sense of delicacy. Subtly creamy in texture and underlain by distinct wet stone, this is, surprisingly, a tad looser and less focused than its higher-alcohol feinherb counterpart. Hints of black cherry join the quince, licorice, and melon in a finish that’s more soothing than stimulating, but in any event impressively persistent. Young Cecilia Jost is taking charge of the cellar here. In 2008, though, she was tied up with a commitment to harvest in Austria, so Peter and Linde Jost were still calling the shots. Given the ripening tendencies of the Jost’s great, steep, near-monopole Hahn (which is the reason Josts have now planted a site high above it to try to get back to real Kabinett) as well as the lees contact that Peter Jost favors, the 2008 vintage offered a possible antidote to high alcohol, lack of transparency or massiveness that are occasionally exhibited at this address, while permitting a later harvest than Josts have “enjoyed” (assuming you consider that the right word) in some years, lasting until November 10.Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300

New Jost plantings in the cooler reaches immediately above the Hahn will soon bear their first fruit, a recognition that the weather is too often conspiring to render a wine like the 2007 Bacharacher Hahn Riesling Kabinett impossible, or at least its description as “Kabinett” misleading. But for this vintage, we have the sense of lift and refreshment promised by its Pradikat. We also have an unusually saline, alkaline, sweaty, animal character, along with more usual tropical fruits (grapefruit, maracua) and sweet floral perfume. There is a lovely combination of richness and levity and a balanced, judicious sweetness that supports and sets off the wine’s virtues rather than calling attention to itself. The fascinating parade of mineral-like nuances in the finish here demonstrates clarity such as Riesling is uniquely able to exhibit. This should be fascinating to follow for as many as 15-20 years. The 2007 vintage was immensely satisfying for the Josts, combining as it did high must weights (but less so than in most recent vintages); ripe acid-retention; ample precipitation (for a flagship site so notoriously dry that it is among the very few in Germany to have been approved decades ago for drip lines); perfect botrytis; and a bumper crop (after several straight years of penury). All of that noted, I was still marginally disappointed by this year’s dry wines. I cannot help but wonder whether the Hahn simply promotes too much sugar in its Riesling grapes for ideal balance at legal Trockenheit. Peter Jost continues to follow a distinctive approach to nobly sweet success – honed only over the past several years – of rigorously removing and discarding in September any botrytis that might not later at harvest be distinguishable from fresh botrytis, and of favoring lower residual sugar and correspondingly higher alcohol in the finished wines than is nowadays fashionable.Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300

The 2006 Bacharacher Hahn Riesling Kabinett offers fusil and wet stone scents, along with apple blossom and pineapple. At 10.5% alcohol, one could not call this “heavy” except perhaps “for a Kabinett,” and it displays excellent balance but with no overt sweetness. A site-typical salinity mingles with subdued tropical fruit notes on a silky, broad palate. Alkaline and fusil elements creep into the finish too, giving this the aspect of an older wine, but adding to a sense of mineral complexity. Enjoy this over the next year or two. (The Josts have acquired acreage above the Hahn from whose altitude they hope to benefit in producing Kabinett. The wine labeled “Hahn Kabinett” was routinely being rendered from Auslese-grade material even in the 1980s.) The normally dry and always steep and well-ventilated Hahn certainly enjoyed advantages in a rain-plagued vintage like 2006.Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300