A mingling of luscious Persian and honeydew melons with bright, tart white currant and lemon lend the dry-tasting (legally halbtrocken) 2009 Maximin Grunhaus Riesling Herrenberg Superior an invigorating and mouthwatering dynamic. Glossy in texture and with an impressive sense of underlying extract, this at the same time displays levity and elegance significantly surpassing that of its trocken Alte Reben counterpart. A cooling influence of mint and faint melon rind bitterness follow through a long, ultra-juicy, peat- and wet stone-tinged finish. I would anticipate at least 12-15 years of appeal. Proprietor Carl von Schubert and cellarmaster and vineyard manager Stefan Kraml continue to make strides in bringing this great estate back to its long-standing exemplary form, albeit incorporating some stylistic innovations (for more about which consult in particular my reports in issues 183 and 187). "We picked from between the 18th of October and the 6th of November," reports von Schubert, "and although there was intermittent rain, the weather only really turned worse after we had finished." He points out that photographs from earlier eras at Grunhaus routinely show vines entirely denuded of foliage by the time they were harvested, just the way they looked this year, and while the early October frost aggravated him at the time, he did not think in retrospect that it had any negative repercussions. One probable effect of those barren branches was relative paucity of botrytis, and von Schubert opined that only at the level of his fuder-numbered Auslesen – and then only by dint of extreme selectivity of bunches and partial bunches – did noble rot become a significant factor. A third fuder-numbered Auslese – other than the two canvassed in the present report – represents, in Carl von Schubert's words, "the attempt to vinify a distinctly botrytized and rigorously selected Auslese in barrique" and will only be bottled and presented for tasting next year. It's degree of sweetness? "Only a bit more than the 'Superior,'" he says! There is also a Beerenauslese and a Trockenbeerenauslese which had not been bottled and which von Schubert was similarly not eager to show yet when I visited in September. Other than for nobly sweet wines, fermentations here are normally finished by the end of December and this year, says von Schubert, was no exception; even while relying entirely on ambient yeasts he had more than enough casks go to legal dryness to satisfy his needs, some even ending up as few as two grams residual sugar and as high as 13.5% in alcohol (although these were blended-out with other, lighter lots). In each instance where I was made aware of multiple bottlings which required reference to an A.P. # in order to disambiguate, note that I tasted only one of those bottlings. Incidentally, a new fuder-vinified 2009 "Schloss Grunhaus" Pinot Blanc struck me as too-dominated by wood, and its 13% alcohol precluded much sense of levity or refreshment. Importer: P. J. Valckenberg International, Tulsa, OK; tel. (918) 622-0424

For a 2009, this has wonderfully vibrant and racy acidity, which balances its slight sense of sweetness perfectly. Scents of petrol and damp moss give way to tart apple, pineapple and citrus flavors, which finish long and crisp. ——J.C.(12/1/2011)—— 90

The for all intents and purposes dry-tasting 2007 Maximin Grunhaus Riesling Herrenberg Superior exhibits a creamy texture and slightly oily feel in striking contrast with the wines that preceded it in this year’s collection. (For more about the style and name of von Schubert’s Superior – of which around 5,000 bottles are rendered per site – please consult issue 179.) But for all of the additional richness and caressing texture here, the luscious, lip-smacking primary appeal of ripe red berries (not just currant but strawberry); melon; pit fruits (not only peach but apricot); and citrus is by no means sublimated. Furthermore, this finishes with a sense of transparency to myriad subtle herbal and smoky, saline mineral nuances. I suspect it might be worth following for as long as 20 years (like off-dry Grunhaus Spatlesen of the mid-‘90s and before) and in retrospect constitute a prime exhibit in the turn around of Grunhaus after its brief qualitative slump in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s. I wrote about vintages 2005 and 2006 in Carl von Schubert’s and cellar master and vineyard manager Stefan Kraml’s hands as representing a return to the traditional Grunhaus excellence, because their wines performed quite well despite manifest vintage limitations. In 2007, the weather was far more cooperative, and the von Schubert collection – harvested over a 20 day period, leisurely compared with the pressures of 2006 – is the finest from any of the “big five” growers who collectively practically exhaust the Ruwer’s remaining top-class acreage. For the most part, they illustrate impeccable balance and clarity, and at their best reach the exhilarating level one would a dozen or more years ago have routinely anticipated at this address under favorable meteorological circumstances. Grunhaus has moved to practicing almost entirely spontaneous fermentations, which von Schubert sees as tending to moderate acidity but also “to achieve a less efficient yield of alcohol” from a given level of sugar, “which is an advantage nowadays just as it was a disadvantage in earlier times.” He was, incidentally, honestly taken-aback a decade or so ago – and was not the only estate owner to experience such a realization – to learn that the ancient, slow-growing, slate-rooted oaks being harvested from his considerable forest and sold at rapidly ascending prices were ultimately destined for prestigious French barrel-makers. The esteemed Nahe-based cooper Horsch has since been commissioned to gradually construct barrels for the Grunhaus from ancient Grunhauser Wald oaks, and von Schubert said he welcomes a time when wood will dominate over tanks in his cellar, although not only cost factors but also the sensitivity of Riesling to new wood preclude a pace more rapid than two or three new casks per year.Importer: P. J. Valckenberg International, Tulsa, OK; tel (918) 622-0424