Weingut Theo Minges Burrweiler Schlosssgarten Rieslaner Spatlese, Pfalz, Germany

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Grilled pineapple, mango, and banana overlain with caramel constitute the gaudy scents and flavors of Minges’ 2009 Burrweiler Schlossgarten Rieslaner Spatlese, which performs with marked similarity to its exhibitionist 2008 predecessor. Sweetly confectionary and herbal liqueur-like though it is, this still harbors 10.5% alcohol (true too of other sweet Minges Spatlesen of the vintage), and it’s arguably more an Auslese in character. It finishes long and drippingly-rich, with fascinatingly funky incursions of musk, sage, and passion fruit. This striking wine won’t be everyone’s cup of Rieslaner, but for sipping unaccompanied it will at the very least get a conversation going, and there might also be some interesting applications with fruit deserts that aren’t themselves too sweet. “We brought in so many lovely wines and worked so hard, now it would be nice to have some rest and not the waiting and waiting for frost” Despite picking into November, Theo Minges was one of those Sudpfalzer who had no trouble retaining acidity in 2009. Indeed, some of his dry offerings practically left me wanting to don sunglasses during our tasting session. As has become usual at this address, the collection is enormously diverse (and I do not usually taste nearly all of its non-Riesling members). “There are a lot of growers,” jokes Minges, “who have an enormous range of wines because they don’t sell well, so the grower keeps trying something new. I go out to the vineyard, get inspired, have a vision, and then I feel compelled to carry it out. And this repeats itself however many times …Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300

Pineapple, maracuja, banana, and malt in the nose of Minges’ 2008 Burrweiler Schlossgarten Rieslaner Spatlese lead to a palate impression as gaudy – and, for this variety, vintage typical – as that description would suggest. Texturally, this is so creamy it’s almost buttery, which fits its malted, nutty, tropical personality to a tee, yet possesses the brightness that both the acid-retentiveness of this grape and this vintage would predict. The effect simply has to be tasted to be believed, even though I’m quite sure some wine lovers will profess to find this (as well as the 2008 vintage Rieslaner bottlings of Muller-Catoir, Messmer, and others) irritatingly or even embarrassingly exhibitionistic. But remember, it’s up to you what you drink in the privacy of your own home, and there’s no law against a wine like this. (Though if the authorities had had their way a dozen or so years ago, there would have been: Rieslaner was slated for elimination from the approved grape roster in the name of simplification, because there was so little of it.) Enjoy this over the next 6-8 years, during which it may show signs of longer potential. Many of this year’s Minges wines were allowed to ferment spontaneously. “It stopped fermenting where it wanted to,” remarked Theo Minges, about one of several wines that did not go dry as they probably would have with cultured yeasts, adding that he’s being influenced now by the success of his exercise in wine-making passivity known as the “Froschkonig” (for more about which consult my review of that wine in issue 185). Regina Minges was keen to point out that the relatively low alcohol and delicate refreshment achieved in particular at the lower end of the price scale reflects an early November harvest.Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300