Battenfeld-Spanier Florsheimer Frauenberg Riesling Grosses Gewachs

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Fresh apple accented by pungent herbs and piquant citrus rinds in Spanier’s 2011 Florsheimer Frauenberg Riesling Grosses Gewachs carry on the palate with the sort of juiciness and salivary gland-engaging savor that was strangely absent from the corresponding Kirchenstuck Grosses Gewachs. Lemon rind and pips along with marjoram and black pepper positively bite and sizzle invigoratingly in the finish, without crossing the line into outright bitterness and without in any way stemming the flow of primary fruit juiciness or tasters’ saliva. This should be worth following for at least 6-8 years. Oliver Spanier (for an account of his methods and still internationally little-known sites, consult especially my issue 185 report) began picking on September 20, 2011 and didn’t finish until November 2 (in his Am Schwarzen Herrgott parcel), an indication of the micro-climatic, topographical and geological diversity among his sites in three communes. That it was necessary to cull botrytis this year is evidenced in an unprecedented set of brilliantly successful nobly sweet wines from this normally trocken-only estate. (Mea Culpa: Somehow, I let Spanier omit pouring me samples of this year’s Eisbach Riesling or his and Gillot’s 2010 CO Riesling – always late-released – without my realizing the omissions and asking that they be remedied.)Imported by Domaine Select Wine Estates, New York, NY; tel. (212) 279-0799

Spanier 2010年的 Florsheimer Frauenberg Riesling Grosses Gewachs 反映了該地區涼快和清爽的特征，其酒精含量要比同款 Kirchenstuck 稍微低一點，而酸味要更加活潑。白桃、草莓及無花果的風味交相融合，構成這款清新、愉悅、多汁的葡萄酒，而潛在的咸味則令人垂涎，禁不住再啜飲一口。適合在未來的 6 至 8 年內品嘗這款美味、富有活力、魅力非凡、豐富多彩的 Riesling。

Spanier's 2009 Florsheimer Frauenberg Riesling Grosses Gewachs is even tighter and displays more bitterness than its Kirchenstuck counterpart. Walnut, peach kernel, and crushed stone all contribute to a formidably dense and persistent but rather austere and charmless personality. A spinach-like amalgam of nuttiness, herbacity, and piquancy adds complexity to the finish. It might well be - as Spanier anticipates - that this will loosen-up and become more expressive after 6-9 months in bottle. Tasted side-by-side, its 2008 vintage counterpart definitely shows a more elegant and generously juicy cast, but that was also the case when the latter was tasted in September, 2009. It's evident in any event that this year's Battenfeld-Spanier collection offers a not unfamiliar instance of Grosse Gewachse - in the short run, anyway - succeeding in tasting more serious at the price of sheer deliciousness. I would tentatively anticipate following this for 4-6 years. Oliver Spanier - for information about whose distinctive sites and methods consult especially my report in issue 185 - harvested until November 3, 2009, allowing almost an entire month for optimizing ripeness. Just as at their Kuhling-Gillot estate, the team of Spanier and his wife Carolin Gillot seek to avoid bottling non-trocken wines, instead blending away any lots that finish with more than 9 grams of residual sugar. Spanier is among the many German Riesling growers who - in his words - are "working in the direction of clarity, freshness, finesse and elegance of expression rather than extract or power" (for which he used the English word). But it's one thing to talk the talk and another to walk the walk - assuming that one is attracted by these stated goals - and in that respect, Spanier is not the only ambitious German grower I have encountered whose ostensibly lesser bottlings (from 2009, anyway) strike me as living up to his stated ideals better than do his Grosse Gewachse.Imported by Domaine Select Wine Estates, New York, NY; tel. (212) 279-0799

Spanier’s 2008 Florsheimer Frauenberg Riesling Grosses Gewachs – from broad terraces between Molsheim and Niederflosheim – is cool and restrained in both its aromatics and palate impression of honeydew melon, herbs, and raw almond. Subtle creaminess of texture is allied to slightly less sheer refreshment than exhibited by the corresponding village wine, but a finish of levity and admirable length make this a refined, elegant, if understated Riesling for its genre, while nips of fruit skin and citrus zest lend pungency and invigoration. Oliver Spanier – for a bit about whose distinctive sites and methods see issue 185 – harvested his 2008 vintage Rieslings from mid-October through the first week of November, and reports having performed no de-acidification.Importer: Domaine Select Wine Estates, New York, NY; tel. (212) 279-0799

Spanier’s 2007 Florsheimer Frauenberg Riesling Grosses Gewachs comes from a chalky, (for the region) unusually steep, terraced site where – some readers will recall – Klaus-Peter Keller has Pinot Noir. Citrus and pit fruits are here mingled with what seem like chalk dust and bark-like tannin. Both massive and – like the corresponding Kirchenstuck – bright, this is impressively long although I long for the sort of sheer juicy refreshment that Spanier’s less-expensive bottlings deliver. I imagine that it will prove interesting to follow this for at least 7-9 years. Oliver Spanier farms organically and, increasingly, biodynamically in the southwestern corner of Rheinhessen, which benefits from the cool breezes of the so-called Eisbach Valley, and hence from potentially above-average hang-time. As part of the married Gillot-Spanier team (see elsewhere in this report under Kuhling-Gillot) he is a prime example of the excitement (and increasingly high prices) that young growers in former “hinterlands” are generating. (If one goes back hundreds of years, though, the chalky vineyards of Rheinhessen’s Wonnegau sub-region enjoyed prestige.) I tasted only a portion of this estate’s 2007s and shall render a fuller report on Spanier’s yet-better 2008s.Imported by Domaine Select Wine Estates, New York, NY; tel. (212) 279-0799