As they did last year, the new team here has vinified separately the three best parcels of Burgergarten, labeling each (with V.D.P. consent) accordingly. Unlike the other 2004s here which had been bottled since April, this amazing trio had only been in bottle three weeks when I tasted them. The 2004 Haardter Burgergarten Riesling Spatlese trocken “Im Breumel” comes from young vines in the highest, stoniest and coolest portion of the Burgergarten and was, Franzen reports, the longest in its fermentation and the most shut-down in aromas in its youth. An almost Mosel-like aroma of honey, lemon oil, wet stones, herbs, and flowers entice one into a palate that is a veritable field of flowers underlain by juicy citricity, nut oils, and honey glazed stones. The finish is long and refined with flowers and stones continuing to set the dominant tone, but certainly just beginning to hint at their full expression. Since the arrival of young Mosel-born Martin Franzen at this great estate so long associated with the wisdom and artistry of Hans-Gunter Schwarz’s 36-year tenure as cellar master, I have been struck by a degree of qualitative continuity and stylistic affinity with the ancient regime that other commentators seem not to have noticed. In a very real sense, the legacy of Schwarz – “activism in the vines, minimalism in the cellar” – has seeped indelibly into the fabric of nearly every top winery in the Pfalz. How then could it be otherwise precisely at Mandelring #25? And although Franzen and a largely new team were forced, to a considerable extent, to rediscover the keys to these vines and sites, they are the same vines and sites so carefully tended, trained and conscientiously replanted over the past decades by the then team of Catoir and Schwarz. In 2004, Franzen has unlocked from them astonishingly numerous and improbably fine vinous treasures such as one has come to associate with the name “Muller-Catoir” in the nearly four decades since a very young Heinrich Catoir inherited this estate and decided to make a statement.Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300
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