2011 Kanzemer Altenberg Alte Reben

The relatively late-picked 2011 Kanzemer Altenberg Riesling Alte Reben offers a striking, bittersweet floral display suggestive of iris and gentian and quite unlike anything evinced by the other wines in this year’s van Volxem collection. Along with this come cooling, high-toned green herbal suggestions that (taken together with overt density; a polished, satiny texture; and generous primary juiciness of apple and white peach) help mitigate any tendency of 13% alcohol (a level reached this year solely by this van Volxem bottling) to evince heat or roughness. While this lacks the clarity or dynamic displayed by other of the best in the present collection, it should be well worth following through at least 2018. Dominik Volk reports that the van Volxem team did not begin harvesting until after things cooled down – specifically on October 4 with a pre-harvest sweep of all sites – and then spent five and a half weeks completing their work under allegedly ideal meteorological circumstances. “It was very difficult to strike the right balance this year,” he opines, since – as I detailed, among other places, in my introduction to notes on the Middle Mosel 2011s – this vintage’s Rieslings, due in large part to their low acidities, were highly sensitive to residual sugar; yet high must weights also brought the danger of excessive alcohol. In the event, Volk and Niewodniczanski elected to risk erring on the side of alcohol, and finished a higher than usual percentage of their Rieslings legally dry (though following their now long-standing convention, none are labeled “trocken”). It paid off with a high rate of expressive successes, which is especially good news because this vintage rewarded Niewodniczanski with his largest-ever crop – not that yields came within hailing distance of the averages at 98% of other German Riesling addresses. In addition to the wines on which I report here, a B.A. and a T.B.A. from the Scharzhofberger which I have not tasted were still fermenting as of last autumn. (For much more about Roman Niewodniczanski’s highly distinctive, evolving methodology and his stylistic ideals, consult the often extensive introductions to my reports on his previous collections.) Importers include Ewald Moseler Selections, Portland OR; tel. (888) 274-4312 and Acid Inc. Selections, New York, NY; tel. (817) 687-4848