2010 Kanzemer Altenberg Riesling Kabinett

Finished at a for its genre and vintage surprisingly high 9.5% alcohol, the von Othegraven 2010 Kanzemer Altenberg Riesling Kabinett is strikingly scented with high-toned citrus oils and Chartreuse-like essences of diverse flowers and herbs. Thyme and lavender along with nut oils and a saliva-including, umami-rich saline savor enhance juicy fresh apple and lime on a palate of richly silken texture yet preserving refreshment and transparency to myriad floral, herbal, and mineral nuances in its long finish. Noticeably less sweet not to mention more complex and alluring than the corresponding Bockstein, this poised beauty ought to be worth following for at least two decades. Cellarmaster and vineyard manager Andreas Barth (for an account of whose own Lubentiushof wines of the past two vintages, see elsewhere in this report) has turned out a von 2010 Othegraven collection some of which benefits from slightly higher than usual residual sugar having been left behind, though when it comes to the Grosse Gewachse of which this estate is especially proud – and which this year were all rendered in tank rather than cask due to the small volumes – there wasn’t any compromise (to put things in a typically German way). Barth performed a very light (half gram) calcium carbonate de-acidification for the dry wines during 16-20 hours of cold maceration, an approach that I am unaware of any other German estate having followed. Of course the pH enhancement of skin contact and the tartrate precipitation triggered by chilling could be counted on anyway, but evidently in this instance there was an unusual degree of self-reinforcement or multiplier effect as the final result was a substantial reduction in acidity between that of the grapes at harvest and in the must after pressing. Barth acknowledges, though, that malic acid predominated even before the aforementioned reductions, which were designed only to influence the level of tartaric, and candidly volunteered as did no other grower I met his levels of finished malic, which represented 60-70% of total acidity. “I’m very skeptical, though,” he added, “that any German Riesling growers ended up with less than 50% malic.” He reports that the bulk of picking took place in the last week of October and first week of November. Most of this year’s sweet wines were bottled in May and the dry ones in the third week of August – not significantly later than estate norms – and to say that the former, small though their total percentage of production is, were much more successful would be rank understatement. (Readers not familiar with the recent stylistic evolution of this estate or its acquisition by German TV celebrity and von Othegraven ancestor Gunther Jauch will want to consult the extended introduction to my issue 192 report.) Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300