2011 Kastanienbusch Riesling Grosses Gewachs

Musky and floral notes mingle with orange zest- and crushed peach kernel-tinged cantaloupe in the piquantly penetrating nose of Rebholz’s Permian sandstone-based 2011 Birkweiler Kastanienbusch Riesling Grosses Gewachs, whose palate impression displays some of the breadth and softness of feel one often associates with its vintage, and which indeed corresponds with measurably lower acidity than that of its two immediate Grosses Gewachs siblings. (Though having left behind seven grams of residual sugar – a lot by the standards of this estate – no doubt contributes significantly to the buffering of what acidity is present). Sappy and subtly salty, this finishes with impressive sheer cling if not the striking invigoration and saliva inducement of the corresponding Ganz Horn nor the glowing piquancy and smokiness that strikingly characterizes the Im Sonnenschein. I suspect that this Kastanienbusch will be best enjoyed by 2016, though I hasten to note that its author expects it to be considerably longer-lived and that may well prove to be the case. The Rebholz 2011 vintage Rieslings were picked through most of October and are characterized by relatively restrained personalities, running the gamut between lean and lively on the one hand and rich and plush on the other; but, interestingly, only in one instance cracking 13% alcohol. As noted in the introduction to this report, Hansjorg Rebholz emphasized levity and vivacity as virtues of vintage 2010 and at least to a certain extent his own collection supports that characterization. “I didn’t de-acidify a single wine,” he notes, “which is something you could only get away with if your grapes were not just perfectly ripe but also carefully selected at harvest, because if you’re going to (as he did) permit 24 hours of skin contact, any negative elements will also be highly concentrated. I left the wines on their fine lees until April,” he adds, explaining another approach to buffering high acidity – of which the majority, he concedes, was malic – though all of this vintage collection’s Rieslings were bottled in May. Hail added to the penury of Rebholz’s 2010 yields. “It wasn’t a year to get rich,” he quips. In reaction, some fruit was purchased from neighbors to supplement the meager volume available for intro-level wines and Rebholz did not bottle his entire usual range of cuvees. Over the last several years of his estate’s just-this-year officially completed conversion to organic viticulture, Rebholz says he has noted looser and sparser clusters with more shot berries, which of course – other things being equal – also conduce to lower yields. “I didn’t make this conversion for marketing purposes, I can tell you that” he remarks, “but in order to get qualitative results.” Imported by Rudi Wiest, Cellars International, Carlsbad, CA; tel. (800) 596-9463