Weingut Josef Leitz Rudesheimer Bischofsberg Riesling Spatlese Trocken, Rheingau, Germany

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The Leitz 2009 Rudesheimer Bischofsberg Riesling Spatlese trocken has retained the designation “Spatlese” solely because his chief customer for the wine, a Norwegian importer, doesnt want to give up the Pradikat sign of pedigree. Juicy white peach and grapefruit are mingled with salt and crushed stone in a surprisingly mineral and positively shimmering performance for a wine from this site. There is a certain degree of underlying austerity to the finish, but this ought to be fascinating to follow over the coming 3-5 years. ”Yes it was dry,” says Johannes Leitz about the late summer and early autumn of 2009, “but drought stress? Who said anything about drought stress?” Evidently he either has a different definition for that condition or had different experiences from some of his colleagues, but I let the matter drop, and the quality of the wines here speaks eloquently both to Leitzs belief that nature delivered an almost ideal combination this year of near over-watering followed by dry heat (which he called “the parachute that saved us from a crash landing”), and to his success in what for others was a manifestly challenging season on the Rudesheimer Berg. Leitzs team began picking October 6 and continued for almost exactly one month. Incidentally, after working for nearly two decades from an expansion of his original cellar under the family home in suburban Rudesheim, Leitz will soon have completed a large new facility nearby.Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300

The Leitz 2007 Rudesheimer Bischofsberg Riesling trocken projects grapefruit and apple on the nose and on an oily, rounded, more soothing - though correspondingly less dynamic - palate than that of this year's generic dry Spatlese. Lemon- and grapefruit zest lend pungency to the otherwise relatively soft, creamy, but impressively lingering finish of a wine I would plan to enjoy by late 2011. Leitz began picking already on September 20, a day earlier than in 2006, but he is the first to admit that after the penury of its predecessor, the higher yields of vintage 2007 were welcome, and to admit as well, that top quality was achieved at the high-volume end of his portfolio only thanks to the aberently long ripening season. (For notes on Leitz's least-expensive, highest-volume, and highly-successful 2007 wines, consult issue 178.) -We were the first to pick and the last, too,- he insists. -I place great importance on that. As far as I'm concerned it's a great reward of global warming that we don't have to wait, like we used to, until October 10 to start harvesting, knowing that you probably had to get finished within 20 days. The climate has helped us to be able to play with the dates of picking- for any given parcel or to essay any given style. Speaking of style, Leitz was phenomenally successful this year in both dry and sweet formats, but essayed just two nobly sweet wines. The fate of an Auslese from the Berg Roseneck with which he expressed dissatisfaction had not yet been determined when I last visited, and a December 6 -Nikolauswein- from the Klosterlay (-we were planning to make Eiswein but lost our nerve,- comments Leitz) was still fermenting.Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300