Weingut Andreas Schmitges Erdener Herrenberg Riesling Eiswein, Mosel, Germany

點(diǎn)擊次數(shù)：2772

Schmitges waited through two consecutive prior mornings of deep frost and accumulated snow before on December 19 harvesting his 2009 Erdener Herrenberg Riesling Eiswein. “We started under blue skies at 08:30,” by which hour Eiswein pickers are usually wrapping-up, reports Schmitges. “I never experienced such a relaxed harvesting of any grapes. There was absolutely no stress at minus 16 degrees. We drank a glass of (Riesling marc) schnapps and then set to work, finishing just before 11:00. I had the grapes in the press for six hours before I got the first bottle’s worth of juice, and I pressed overnight and well into the next day.” The finished wine has 301 grams of residual sugar! At 12.5 grams acidity it’s high but not especially so for Eiswein. Its 60 grams of dry extract are, however, off-the-charts. Radish and candied lemon rind; quince jelly, apricot preserves and orange liqueur inform a nose hair-quivering aromatic display and implacably dense yet vibrantly refreshing and sorbet-like, even slightly creamy palate performance. This audacious Eiswein finishes neither cloyingly sweet nor jarringly acidic. What’s more, it evinces a salivary gland-milking and further invigorating salinity. It should show well for at least a decade, but I defy anyone to today predict beyond that. Schmitges decision to ask, as part of the Flurbereinigung, for this 2000 square meter parcel in which he observed that the snow melted last in Spring has been vindicated, although at the time the authorities had not even planned to include it in the systematic redistribution and replanting. Asked why, they told Schmitges “because there isn’t anybody who’s interested in it.” (They meant, “… anyone in his right mind.”) “Well, there is now,” replied Schmitges, and they were forced to authorize earth-moving to this remote, sheer stone spot.“My father was going crazy in October,” says Andreas Schmitges, because contrary to normal practice “we were harvesting Monday through Thursday and then just working in the cellar or the vinotec over the weekend, all under beautiful skies, while he’s shuffling his feet and thinking ‘Hey, folks, at some point this lovely weather is going to be over.’ But our forecasters were reliable and the weather held as long as we needed,” he claimed, which in his case was until November 10. Schmitges relates that – in part under the influence of Mosel practices in a bygone era; in part based on “intensive exchange with Austrian colleagues,notably Peter Veyder-Malberg, over the last five years” – he now gives his musts destined for dry wines increasing skin contact and opportunity to oxidize before the onset of fermentations, which he allows to rise higher in temperature than is usual today on the Mosel. He also acknowledges a recognition that accumulation of degrees Oechsle can nowadays be problematic, for which reason his approach to soil management (including deep plowing and carefully-targeted greening); pruning; picking (“paying careful attention to acid-retention but also ripeness of acids”); and vinification (including spontaneous fermentation and longer lees contact) is reflecting increasing watchfulness lest wines become “too lush” or noticeably high in alcohol.Importers include: Dee Vine Wines, San Francisco, CA tel. (877) 389-9463; Ewald Moseler Selections, Portland OR tel. 888 274 4312; Magellan Wine Imports, Centennial, CO (720) 272-6544

Harvested December 30 from grapes he says were brown from over-ripening and had been packed in plastic film to ward-off wild boar (a section of Treppchen is about to get electric fence for that purpose), the performance of Schmitges’ 2008 Erdener Herrenberg Riesling Eiswein surprised me in its levity and clarity after his description had led me to expect deficiencies in those areas and an overlay of botrytis. Intensely redolent of distilled herbs and pit fruits it allies those elements to metaphorically cooling honeydew melon and lime as well as spiced pear and a hint of white raisin on a juicy, delicate palate, its acidity lively but well-buffered and saline spicy notes shimmering through in a refreshing and gripping but in no way aggressive finish. “Better a bird in the hand and a clean Eiswein,” remarked Schmitges, “than to have gone for higher degrees Oechsle in January.” I’d plan to monitor this, but it might well be worth following for more than two decades. Andreas Schmitges worked with a combination of spontaneous fermentation and judicious yeasting to render his dry wine-dominated 2008 collection, one which struck me as somewhat short-changing the vintage’s inherent virtues. An example of this is his decision to chaptalize his Riesling Grauschiefer up to 13% for the sake of stylistic continuity.Importers include: Dee Vine Wines, San Francisco, CA tel. (877) 389-9463; Ewald Moseler Selections, Portland OR tel. 888 274 4312; Magellan Wine Imports, Centennial, CO (720) 272-6544

A 2004 Erdener Herrenberg Riesling Eiswein originated in an east-facing parcel that, in Schmitges’ words, “has an entirely unique expression of minerality.” It also very nearly never was, as “the wild boar had about a 3,000 Euro lunch the day before we picked this.” A bright fresh lemon and tangerine nose leads to a thickly creamy palate of enveloping richness, but in which courses electrifyingly bright citrus (maybe that is what has stunned the residual sugar into remission?) and a razor-sharp acidity that makes you worry lest this wine draw blood. This almost shockingly intense wine has not sorted itself out in the finish yet but could well become great wine. Also recommended: 2005 Erdener Treppchen Riesling Kabinett trocken ($ unknown; 85), 2005 Erdener Treppchen Riesling Spatlese trocken ($ unknown; 84).Importers include: Dee Vine Wines, San Francisco, CA; tel. (877) 389-9463; Kerlin Wines, Washington, DC; tel. (202) 442-1136; Magellan Wine Imports, Centennial, CO; tel. (720) 272-6544