2006 Erdener Pralat TBA

Trockenbeerenauslese were too under the influence of its sulfur for me to assess on the one occasion of our meeting, but a 2006 Erdener Pralat Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese revealed itself as a viscous super-concentrate of mango, dried peach, as well as of the herbal and citrus characteristics associated with its great site. At this early stage, it looks unlikely to achieve the uncanny balance and brilliant, positively bracing intensity of the other best nobly sweet Pralat wines in this collection, but a powerful, long finish deters one from pretending to exercise a crystal ball. Certainly this will be at least a 50 year wine. Ernst Loosen, Bernard Schug, and their team finished their harvest on October 6, before many growers had even begun. “Thank goodness we were able to bring 15 people up from Weingut J. L. Wolf in the Pfalz,” says Loosen about the hectic and heroic day-and-night harvest of 2006. “We’ve never before had 50 people out there in the vineyards.” “Those guys from the Pfalz had just plain had it at the end, I can tell you,” adds Schug, without a trace of humor. But he brightens when assessing the vintage as a whole. “I considered the 2005s the best collection of my career, but at this stage, I don’t think 2006 as a whole is weaker.” During the past three vintages in his collaborative work with Chateau Ste. Michelle in Washington State, Loosen points out, he has moved on to their harvest after that of his own estate in the “cool climate ‘Old World.’” Importer: Loosen Brothers, Portland, OR; tel. (510) 864-7255