Weingut Immich-Batterieberg Escheburg Riesling, Mosel, Germany

點(diǎn)擊次數(shù)：2093

Since no Ellergrub was bottled due to mildew problems, the Enkircher Riesling 2021 Escheburg is based on more Ellergrub fruit than normal. The wine opens deep, pure and dense on the aromatic, fruity and well-concentrated nose due to predominantly ungrafted vines in steep top vineyards. On the palate, this is a medium-bodied, intense and elegant, well-balanced and stony Riesling with charm and calmness since it was aged in used oak barrels until September, whereas the CAI and Detonation were aged in stainless steel until late June. The finish here is persistently salty and stony. This is an excellent effort that pairs elegance and finesse with purity and salinity. 11% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted in October 2022.

A 2009 Riesling Escheburg - whose name comes from that of the great stone former fortress housing Immich-Batterieberg - represents largely ungrafted vines from steep but to some degree less-favored slopes. This is the only wine in its collection - save for the Batterieberg Auslese - to display significant sweetness, which however nicely supports pineapple, musk melon fresh lime, and ginger on a creamy yet refreshing palate, with distinct wet stone notes offering contrast in the finish. The sort of interactive dynamic that characterizes the other Immich 2009s is missing here, however, at least for now. The pleasure in this instance is of a more soothing sort, and I would plan on enjoying the wine over the next 3-5 years, although time might certainly tell a different story. Few German wine lovers or even wine growers under the age of 45 are likely to know much about the family-run estate once officially know as Carl August Immich-Batterieberg, even though it farmed one of the traditionally highest-taxed and highest-rated concentrations of vineyards on the Mosel; boasted a history not to mention labels as colorful as any in Germany; and was guided in its final generation by a soft-spoken gentleman who rendered some of the finest exemplars of - and offered some of the most profound insights into - Riesling of any I have been privileged to imbibe. To go by the recent, lavishly-produced, multi-authored Weinatlas Deutschland, the stretch of vineyards once managed by Immich is scarcely worth mentioning. At one place along this sheer, once-celebrated expanse of blue and red slates the Prussian demolitions expert for whom the estate was named blasted apart what became known - if at first mockingly - as the -Batterieberg.- The circumstances surrounding Georg Immich's 1989 sale of his family's estate and its subsequent fate make for a tale of personal betrayal, divorce, decline, and criminal deceit too intricate and sensitive - perhaps too sorrowful - and certainly too long for retelling on the present occasion. And besides, the welcome news last year that oenologist Gernot Kollmann and two friends had purchased the by then prostrate estate has now been followed by an astonishingly successful inaugural range of 2009s under the newly-simplified estate name -Immich-Batterieberg,- and if you-re entirely ignorant of history or local terroir (as, apparently, are even some self-styled experts) these new wines will tell you everything essential. Kollmann (who will continue to closely advise the Knebel estate in Winningen) would love to have vinified his new wines in fuder, but the few that remained in his cavernous facilities were unusable, and the approach he took out of expediency - tanks supplemented by seasoned barriques - succeeded far beyond my skeptical imagination. Halbtrocken and trocken Rieslings from Georg Immich's cellar often remained fresh as well as riveting for 20 or more years, but I have remained very conservative in my projections for this latest collection, since there is no track record under the current regimen. The estate's acreage in Enkircher Zeppwingert has been replanted, and following some re-acquisitions this year, total holdings under the new owners correspond closely to those formerly associated with the Immich estate, minus the portion of Ellergrub that is farmed by Weiser-Kunstler under an arrangement with Georg Immich's widow, and has been described in my recent reports on that young estate. (Incidentally, Terry Theise imported Georg Immich's Rieslings during his latter years as proprietor.)Mosel Wine Merchant Trier, Germany (various importers); tel. (413) 429-6176; +49 (0) 651 14551 38