Weingut Ratzenberger Bacharacher Wolfshohle Riesling Spatlese, Mittelrhein, Germany

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The 2008 Bacharacher Wolfshohle Riesling Spatlese reflects really tiny, meager clusters – like last year’s – says the younger Jochen Ratzenberger, so that it was harvested at high, complete ripeness already the 20th of October, at the beginning of the estate’s Riesling harvest. There is a penetration and concentration of lemon and grapefruit, delightfully laced with bitter-sweet, buddleia- and iris-like inner-mouth perfume. The texture is flatteringly glossy – almost creamy – and at the same time there is energy, cut, and brightness. Alkaline, stony, and saline mineral accumulations provide contrast to the wine’s lush fruit, and both carry into a finish of oscillating dynamic. This comes from right behind the Ratzenbergers’ house, cheek by jowl with the vines that inform their Grosses Gewachs, “but there’s no way you can use this fruit for Grosses Gewachs,” explains the younger Ratzenberger. “Those tiny, green-gold berries are too high both in sugar and acidity.” And those implosively-concentrated berries engender the sort of fusion reaction that takes place in your mouth, drawing so much saliva you’ll need to chase the wine with water. Put this on your short-list (it hasn’t been priced or arrived stateside yet) and feel free to follow some for a quarter century! When you taste a collection like this year’s from the two Jochen Ratzenbergers, you have to wonder why their wines’ consistent quality; track record for aging; and frequently stellar performances do not make this one of the most talked-about estates in Germany. (Maybe I shouldn’t wish that on us!) In fact, they are quite well-respected at home, but I think there is a certain snobbishness that rebounds against even the best Mittelrhein Riesling because this region’s precious half-timbered villages and crenellated slopes spell “tourist country” to most German wine lovers.Importer: Sussex Wine Merchants, Moorestown, NJ; tel. (856) 608-9644