2007 Alfred Merkelbach Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Auslese

The Merkelbach “one star” 2007 Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Auslese* (A.P. #18 – the star, incidentally has been placed over the “n” in “Wurzgarten,” not after “Auslese”!) is a wine of clarity, lift, and delicacy, boasting harmonious acids that set it with A.P. #16 in this progression, and evincing a lovely creaminess of texture. Lemon, mint, and hedge flowers lend even this ripest of Merkelbach 2007s an aura of Sauvignon, but it’s delightful, and what there is of botrytis here amounts to a glistening glaze of honey and caramel that convincingly compliments the refreshingly citric, fresh berry and cooling herbal sides of the wine. This will also be worth a couple of decades’ cellaring. “Experience suggested ... the Merkelbach brothers might not have been staffed so as to most effectively deal with a vintage of such precipitant ripeness and rot as 2006,” I wrote to introduce my report on them last year ... and was I ever wrong! Ok, but surely this year – one with healthy fruit and all the time in the world to harvest – would be a Merkelbach vintage par excellence. Yes, in a way it is. These bachelor brothers, bear in mind, must now be pushing 70 and work these slopes almost alone, so that selective harvesting isn’t in the cards. They started on October 8 and finished the 23rd. Result at times push the limits of herbal pungency and malic acid that I would want ideally to taste in young wines here or elsewhere on the Mosel. That said, I’ve been chez Merkelbach every year since 1985, so I recall what a long-term “normal” vintage tasted like – before we all became spoiled – and Rieslings from 1986 and ’87 – far leaner than these 2007s – had their day, believe me, they just needed time to settle down. No question, these wines remain amazing values, even when factoring in that standards of Pradikat usage here date to an earlier era. A Merkelbach Auslese would by must weight be a Spatlese or Kabinett at the other addresses whose wines I routinely review in these pages. Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel (516) 677-9300