Ansgar Clusserath Piesporter Goldtropfchen Riesling Feinherb

點(diǎn)擊次數(shù)：1384

The Ansgar Clusserath 2010 Piesporter Goldtropfchen Riesling feinherb smells of grapefruit, pineapple, and wet stone, all of which reunite on a palate of palpable density and uncanny if subtle creaminess given a wine at the same time so bright and juicy. Notes of grapefruit rind and pineapple close to the core supply an invigorating piquancy and chew to the protracted finish. This ought to prove delightfully versatile for at least the better part of a decade. Eva Clusserath was among the many to experience a commercially depressing 2010 vintage. “We went as many as three or four times into the same vineyard to optimize ripeness,” she reports, and in the face of all that expensive labor, volumes were down by close to half. Clusserath double-salt de-acidified the must for her basic dry wine, but otherwise says she waited as long as she could to harvest (beginning only near the end of October) and arrived at total acidity in her other musts of around ten grams, extremely moderate by vintage standards (not to mention lower than Clusserath’s husband Philipp Wittmann registered in Rheinhessen!). And as usual at this address, a day or more of skin contact was permitted for the dry wines; and all of the wines stayed on their fine lees until bottling, which ranged from late May though July. Together with losses during fermentation and to tartrate precipitation, these factors resulted in wines whose finished acid levels would not even raise an eyebrow on the Mosel, something one can claim for very few 2010s. Yet ironically, despite that analytical fact, these wines are recognizably of their vintage in terms of their relatively sharp corners and in the best instances productive tension, vivacity and invigoration.Importer: Domaine Select Wine Estates, New York, NY; tel. (212) 279-0799

An Ansgar Clusserath 2009 Piesporter Goldtropfchen Riesling feinherb smells of grapefruit, Persian melon, and smoky, faintly fusil intimations of crushed stone. More forward and juicy even than the corresponding Apotheke, it brims with grapefruit, apple, melon, and nut oils, its glossy texture complimenting an overall sense of generosity that also extends to a refreshing, stone-kissed finish. This 10% alcohol, virtually dry Riesling ought to prove a versatile delight over at least the next half dozen years and probably well beyond. Eva Clusserath – for more about the recent and significant evolution of whose family estate consult in particular my report in issue 187 – adjudged the quality of her 2009 grapes “super” and did not pick the last of them until mid-November. No bottling took place until June, but several wines had only recently or not even finished fermenting by then and so were bottled at the end of the summer. (Unfortunately, Eva Clusserath forgot to bring a bottle of this year’s Auslese – picked out from various parcels in the Apotheke – to our tasting in Rheinhessen chez Clusserath & Wittmann; and as one thing led to another in the course of an extremely tight schedule, I was subsequently unable to connect-up with a bottle.)Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300