Smoky and cyanic notes in the nose of Ratzenberger’s 2009 Bacharacher Wolfshohle Riesling Grosses Gewachs ally themselves to saline and stony mineral manifestations on a firm; full (at slightly over 13% alcohol); faintly oily palate, leading to an invigorating and positively gripping – if not especially refreshing – finish: peat, walnut, and peach kernel being among its smoky and piquant elements. This striking Riesling needs to lose some of its austerity, and perhaps will have done so even short-term after recovering from bottling. I would want to revisit it before planning on holding bottles for more than half a dozen years. (Meanwhile, the 2008 rendition – which ought to just about now be appearing in the U.S. market – is what to look out for.) The two Jochen Ratzenbergers began picking early in October and were done by the end of that month, with – to the extent that I could assess them – consistently fine results. The collection included only a single botrytis wine, a Wolfshohle Auslese that had received some special press recognition in Germany very early, on account of which the father-son team claimed not to have even a single bottle to show me. What was to have been this year’s Bacharacher Posten Spatlese halbtrocken resolutely stopped fermenting with 30 grams of residual sugar; and I can’t offer a note on the results, because some Swiss merchant had bought every last bottle from Ratzenbergers. The 180 liters of Ratzenberger 2009 Kloster Furstental Eiswein had not nearly finished fermenting when I tasted it, but even in its leesy, cloudy, and still-active state it was clear that this would become an impressively concentrated libation. (It started life at 210 Oechsle and at the steady fermentative tempo which it had exhibited through September, was expected to officially become wine by last Christmas – though when it would be deemed “finished” was anybody’s guess.) Speaking of which, Ratzenbergers have just taken over some additional acreage in the Kloster Furstental, which in future might result in other single-vineyard bottlings from that site. “We couldn’t take all of the acreage that was offered,” relates the younger Jochen Ratzenberger, “but we took what we could handle. We want to do our part to see that this amazing steep site remains planted.” The absence of suggested retail pricing for many Ratzenberger wines I review could, I decided, use some explanation. By arrangement with their importers – as a survey of the U.S. marketplace confirms – only their lightest-weight wines are released by the Ratzenbergers in the year following their bottling (and even then, not their sweeter Kabinett from the St. Jost). But as wines with bottle age are released, Spatlesen have tended lately to sell in the $30 retail range; Auslesen and Grosse Gewachse in the $45-50 retail range, confirming Ratzenberger Rieslings as superb values.Imported by Sussex Wine Merchants, Moorestown, NJ; tel. (856) 608 9644

The 2008 Bacharacher Wolfshohle Riesling Grosses Gewachs features toasty, nutty, smoky black tea, and faintly bitter citrus rind and cyanic, fruit pit notes, all playing against juicy fresh purple plum fruit. It preserves a remarkable sense of clarity to stone and iodine mineral as well as to almost Chablis-like meat stock suggestions. Here we have richness and palpable extract along with pure, juicy fruit; glossy richness along with levity and interplay. As this year’s St. Jost Grosses Gewachs demonstrated (negatively) vis-a-vis its Spatlese trocken counterpart, too often wines in this luxury VDP category, while impressive, can’t dance. This is an exception, and it would be well worth planning to partner with it periodically over the next dozen years. There are, by the way, only a couple of thousand bottles of each of this year’s Ratzenberger Grosse Gewachse, which is a typical production level for that genre at this estate. When you taste a collection like this year’s from the two Jochen Ratzenbergers, you have to wonder why their wines’ consistent quality; track record for aging; and frequently stellar performances do not make this one of the most talked-about estates in Germany. (Maybe I shouldn’t wish that on us!) In fact, they are quite well-respected at home, but I think there is a certain snobbishness that rebounds against even the best Mittelrhein Riesling because this region’s precious half-timbered villages and crenellated slopes spell “tourist country” to most German wine lovers.Importer: Sussex Wine Merchants, Moorestown, NJ; tel. (856) 608-9644

The 2007 Bacharacher Wolfshohle Riesling Grosses Gewachs displays a penetrating, striking – and some may say “off-putting” – nose of lemon zest, brine, sweat, and musk. Salt-tinged bright lemon and dried peaches inform a slightly strident but undeniably sappy, energetic palate. It would be hard to imagine two more strikingly different personalities from the same grower and vintage, and from nearly neighboring sites. For now at least, this Wolfshohle cries out “See me, I’m a Grosses Gewachs!” but the St. Jost seems to impart the bigger message. The bitter-sweet, voluminous, oily-rich 2006 Wolfshohle Grosses Gewachs – which fermented for over 13 months – is loaded with persistent white peach and walnut oil, easily at a quality level with this year’s St. Jost. Jochen Ratzenberger Jr. expressed delight with his 2007s, and even though I’m straining to recollect a vintage with which he wasn’t pleased, the truth is, he and his father comprise one of the most consistently high-performance teams in German viticulture, and their 2007 collection is consistently impressive. Both of the Ratzenbergers’ 2007 vintage Grosse Gewachse – in what has been fairly typical behavior – finished fermenting only in mid-August, and were immediately bottled with barely enough time to appear at the annual Berlin Presentation of Germany’s collective wines in this genreImported by Sussex Wine Merchants, Moorestown, NJ; tel. (856) 608 9644

The 2004 Bacharacher Wolfshohle Grosses Gewachs offers roast pumpkin, nut oils and peach kernel on the nose. The palate impression is creamy, waxy and rich yet bright and refreshing as well, amazing considering it had recently been racked, sulphured and filtered. The long finish is bitter-sweet yet clear and transparent in its ripe fruit and salt and wet-stone minerality, with low-toned, nutty richness but also delicate notes of citrus and pit fruits. Ratzenberger says he reduced the crop to a single bunch per vine. At just over 12% alcohol, this is a model of balance for wines of “Grosses Gewachs” genre. The Jochen Ratzenbergers – father and son – seldom fear letting the acidity of their Rieslings hang out, and they also craft wines that often need a couple of year’s bottle age to blossom, so my verdict on their 2004s may well require upgrading. Acid levels in the grapes stayed high, but Jochen Ratzenberger Jr. reports that the estate has never experienced such unprovoked precipitation of tartrates as this year, which significantly diminished the finished acids.Importer: Sussex Wine Merchants, Moorestown, NJ tel 856-608-9644