Oliver Haag reports that his 2011 Braunebeger Juffer Riesling Auslese is the product largely of very ripe but not botrytized fruit. Mango, papaya and musk melon are mingled with honey and laced with nut oils and mouthwatering salinity that keep the sense of tropicality here from going overboard. That said, there is nothing – today, at least – approaching the levity, transparency or interactive complexity of the corresponding Spatlese. This long-finishing, seductively rich yet saliva-inducing bottling ought to perform admirably for at least a quarter century and may well reveal more diverse flavors in the process.
“We started picking at the beginning of October,” relates Oliver Haag “because must weights were already high for Kabinett, but there was good acidity.” Haag pressed whole clusters rather than either crushing or permitting skin contact for his dry wines, and tended to favor a higher percentage of stainless steel for vinification and elevage because, as he puts it, “the material was all so ripe that I was worried it would come off as too opulent and voluminous.” Without question, he thereby puts his finger on a legitimate concern, and his own wines illustrate the truth that higher alcoholic volume and opulence – no matter what appears on the Riesling’s label – aren’t necessarily virtues, and in particular not in the context of this vintage. “To convey a sense of levity this year,” notes Haag, “was not so easy. Not that there was much botrytis out there,” he adds, though fortunately that fact did not deter him from rendering several spectacular ennobled wines in small volumes.
Importer: Rudi Wiest, Cellars International, Carlsbad, CA; tel. (800) 596-9463
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