The merely 8% alcohol Jost 2010 Wallufer Walkenberg Riesling Spatlese exhibits luscious peach, musk melon, and fig whose generosity is, as was intended, reinforced by relatively high residual sugar. Saline, sweaty overtones as well as undertones of caramel and wet stone make for considerable intrigue while grapefruit and lemon introduce lively refreshment, all of which carry into a sustained finish that manages to be at once soothing and stimulating. The contrast with this year’s several dry Jost Rheingau Rieslings is striking, not to mention welcome. Expect this to be worth following for 12-15 years if not longer.
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
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