2010 Erdener Treppchen Spatlese

Musk melon, root beer, and savory salted caramel as well as more site-typical candied orange lend a fascinating personality to a delicate (merely 7.2% alcohol), subtly creamy, unabashedly sweet 2010 Erdener Treppchen Riesling Spatlese that Christoffel maintains is the only wine of the vintage that he de-acidified, and then only slightly. Palpably extract-rich and soothing yet with ample primary juiciness, this finishes with sweetly satisfying length. Given what I have experienced of Jos. Christoffel wines over the past couple of years, I don’t doubt that it harbors at least 20 years’ stamina. Veteran Karl-Josef “Kajo” Christoffel (for more about whose estate and methodology consult my report in issue 192) insists that one simply had to hold out for late-enough harvest in 2010 in order to render de-acidification unnecessary, though by that point, he concedes, a genuine Kabinett wasn’t possible. It would seem that Christoffel’s old and strategically-located vines were able to withstand botrytis is a way that those of many Urzig growers could not. His proclivity for alcoholic levity and tolerance for high residual sugar were intentionally accentuated this year, with most wines hovering close to a mere 7% alcohol. Christoffel bottled in early May, at most a week or two later than in a typical year, and given the penury of yields, there are fewer different bottlings than in a typical year. Readers should however bear in mind that this estate prides itself on its range of available mature wines, and some these 2010s might not reach the market until after 2012. Importers include Atlanta Improvement Co.; tel. (404) 876 4500, Ewald Moseler Selections, Portland OR; tel. 888 274 4312, Import A-N-T Wines, Venice, FL; tel. (941) 493 3000, Noble Wines Ltd., Seattle, WA; tel. (206) 326 5274