Weingut Max Ferd. Richter Veldenzer Elisenberg Riesling Auslese, Mosel, Germany

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The Richter 2010 Veldenzer Elisenberg Riesling Auslese suggests candied lemon and gooseberry preserves, its high glycerin and high residual sugar pulling it in a decidedly confectionary direction despite its faintly prickly and tart elements. As in the case of a number of wines in the present collection, this may pick up complexity and allure with time in bottle and it certainly got in there with plenty of energy and sheer flavor intensity that has made for a penetratingly persistent finish. I would expect at least 20 years of stamina. “The last time I had acid levels as high as in 2010,” reports Dirk Richter, “was in 1980, and I don’t need to tell you that vintage was a disaster even by then-prevailing standards. What’s more, that was the last time I had de-acidified. Even in challenging years like 1981, patience at harvest and the right upbringing of the young wines – maceration, later bottling, encouraging tartrate precipitation, etc. – sufficed to deal with high acids. In many cases this year, we double-salt de-acidified twice, in must and then again in wine – after having done nothing for thirty years; I couldn’t believe it was happening! But it was the only way to remove a sufficient share of the malic. The finished wines are still plenty high in acidity, but I did not want to repeat my experience from 1990, in which I bottled wines with as much 11 grams acid. The second year, they started to taste sour, and that never left them even as their textures eventually creamed-up. I think that two years from now many de-acidified wines will start fatiguing whereas our best will be coming into their own.” In 2010, needless to say, the grapes were essentially ripe – indeed all met the admittedly weak legal minimum for Auslese – but as Richter notes “I had to keep revisiting parcels again and again taking just what had properly ripened because the condition of bunches was so heterogeneous.” Precautionary levels of sulfur combined with the naturally low pH levels of 2010 material are, he speculates, the reason why he ended up having to yeast most of his musts this year to achieve satisfactory fermentation. Richter reports having managed to pick-out 20 and 30 liters respectively of B.A. and T.B.A. but at such pathetically small levels he felt it made more sense to blend them back selectively into the vintage’s Auslesen. “I’m laying everything on the table,” he noted with his usual candor when we began tasting, “some are quite good, some are meager, but I’ll let you judge for yourself.”Importer: Langdon-Shiverick Cleveland,?OH; tel. (216) 861-6800

The 2008 Veldenzer Elisenberg Riesling Auslese smells of apple and quince, which then come to the palate accompanied by almost aggressive citricity. Suggestions of white peach, grapefruit, and wet stone dominate this Riesling of satisfying vivacity and cut and satisfying chew of fruit skin, if neither notable complexity nor richness. Like last year’s rendition, this has two decades of aging potential and will probably gain depth in the course of its maturation. “We had the November weather in October, and the lovely October weather in November,” says Dirk Richter of 2008, thereby essentially explaining his harvest strategy. He ameliorated acidity through skin contact; nature helped by precipitating tartrates; and nonetheless, some wines were de-acidified already as must. Richter is pleased to characterize the results as “classic Mosel Rieslings,” and since Richter spends a great deal of time promoting his wines in the U.S. I am happy to be able to concur in that description, even if some of his 2008s are only modestly successful. Richter admits that this collection is likely at least for the short term to be overshadowed by those on either side of it, but speculates that the 2008s will have their day if given time.Importer: Langdon-Shiverick Cleveland,?OH; tel. (216) 861-6800

The 2007 Veldenzer Eliseneberg Riesling Auslese smells and tastes of brown spiced and herb-tinged pear, quince, and red berry. Indeed, Richter’s comparison of this site with the Ruwer holds true of its flavors on this occasion as well. Sappy and refreshing as well as rich and honeyed, the tart notes of red currant, lime, brown spices, salt, and smoke make for an invigorating, long finish. This has 85 grams of residual sugar: a lot, but a lot less than the 2006. And when you add in the inherent juiciness and lift of the vintage and the absence of botrytis – not to mention the price – this is an Auslese worth buying to savor, not collect and revere. That said, I harbor little doubt that bottles will show well for 20 years. Dirk Richter is an historian of the Mosel as well as one of the region’s foremost growers, and he claims that on five occasions in the eleven years between and including the epochal vintages of 1911 and 1921, flowering on the Mosel took place in May ... but then not again until 2007. He started picking already in early October, but only as a means of thinning (“pre-harvesting”) his Brauneberg vineyards, and the resultant Kabinett is rather green in flavor. Harvest did not begin in earnest here until mid-October, and save for the two T.B.A.s that he painstakingly collected, Richter insists there was scarcely any botrytis. Interesting, the yields from Richter’s Wehlener Sonnenuhr vineyards – his only remaining ungrafted vines – were the highest this year that he has ever experienced, and the wines are by no means disappointing (although Auslese was not possible). The grip exhibited by his dry-tasting wines may in part come from the skin contact Richter gives most of them, in part to buffer their acids. Still, as he puts it, “with the intense minerality, strong acidity, and very low pH of Mosel Riesling, some residual sugar is needed. And here, with feinherb-as-trocken, that need is borne out quite clearly, and the wine tastes dry, and people drink it as ‘dry’.” What’s more, lower alcohol helps these “dry” Riesling dance. If feinherb (often as high here as 25 grams in residual sugar) works on Richter’s German customers, halleluiah! For anybody else, these feinherb Kabinetts should be no-brainers, especially at his prices. Richer shares my enthusiasm for the undeservedly obscure and misunderstood Pinot Blanc (a.k.a. Wiesser Burgunder), and is in process of doubling his acreage and planning to produce some Sekt from it as wellImporter: Langdon-Shiverick Cleveland,?OH; tel. (216) 861-6800

A “two star” 2006 Veldenzer Elisenberg Riesling Auslese (also labeled as “Fass 83”) boasts fine concentration of white peach, blueberry, mint and citrus; a faintly oily texture and expansive palate richness; and a pure, penetrating, invigorating finish of admirable length as well as lift. Here at last in the current collection we glimpse some of the unique greatness of this Middle Mosel vintage, as well as a remarkable balance between high residual sugar and high acidity and great elegance and buoyancy even at over 9% alcohol. This should keep well for 30 years. Richter did not attempt any Beerenauslesen this year, saying that by the time he could consider it, it was scarcely possible to distinguish the noble botrytis for the bad.“My minmum must weight was 100,” says Dirk Richter, almost in tones of exasperation, rendering it hard to craft lighter-weight wines, particularly at the restrained levels of residual sugar that usually characterize his estate. Some of Richter’s dry-tasting wines had difficulty coming to terms with their alcohol, and as he was the first to admit, in 2006 this could happen even with “feinherb” wines of more than 15 grams residual sugar. He wasn’t able to get his full picking crew (mostly Poles) in place until October 10, and many of this years wines appeared to struggle with the rougher aspects of botrytis and/or the effects of having tried to remove their taint from the musts. “We ended up just leaving the grapes hanging in some parcels,” says this veteran, “which is something I have never experienced.” (Incidentally, Richter and his importer appear to have collaborated in lowering his prices in the U.S. market for this vintage, despite the weak dollar.)Importer: Langdon-Shiverick Cleveland, OH; tel. (216) 861-6800

From a late picking, the 2006 Veldenzer Elisenberg Riesling Auslese reveals (behind a light veil of residual fermentative notes) considerable diversity of pit fruits, flowers, and brown spices, with bright citricity running like a refreshing and electrifying current throughout. The family resemblance to the Elisenberg Spatlese, and the advantage of this site in 2006 are apparent, although this silken-textured Riesling still misses the refinement and elegance to which the best 2006s aspire. Time will probably bring more depth, and one could probably hold this for 25 years without it diminishing. “My minmum must weight was 100,” says Dirk Richter, almost in tones of exasperation, rendering it hard to craft lighter-weight wines, particularly at the restrained levels of residual sugar that usually characterize his estate. Some of Richter’s dry-tasting wines had difficulty coming to terms with their alcohol, and as he was the first to admit, in 2006 this could happen even with “feinherb” wines of more than 15 grams residual sugar. He wasn’t able to get his full picking crew (mostly Poles) in place until October 10, and many of this years wines appeared to struggle with the rougher aspects of botrytis and/or the effects of having tried to remove their taint from the musts. “We ended up just leaving the grapes hanging in some parcels,” says this veteran, “which is something I have never experienced.” (Incidentally, Richter and his importer appear to have collaborated in lowering his prices in the U.S. market for this vintage, despite the weak dollar.)Importer: Langdon-Shiverick Cleveland, OH; tel. (216) 861-6800