[wine] German Riesling

Hope you're surviving the heat. FYI, 20 miles on a bike last Saturday was NOT a good idea. Cheers, Jim August 22, 2013 Germany.s Rieslings on the Tip of the Tongue By ERIC ASIMOV The topic today is German rieslings, and since I already know the first question, let me start with the answer: No, not all German rieslings are sweet. In fact, sweet German rieslings may soon be an endangered species. How can this be? Simple. The Germans themselves, as has been true for several decades now, overwhelmingly prefer dry wines without any trace of residual sweetness. But to say Germans prefer dry wines suggests that much consideration has been given to the issue. Rather, as Terry Theise, a leading importer of German wines, recently said, .The omnipresence of dry wines within Germany is a dubious example of this country.s temptation to do things in large, implacable blocs.. He goes on to liken dry German rieslings to .a highly invasive species that wants to swallow up every other style.. The stranglehold of dry rieslings on the German wine-drinking public is so fierce that, as Mr. Theise and others have noted, the delicately sweet style of German rieslings may survive only because small but vociferous blocs of wine lovers outside of Germany prize it so. Mr. Theise recognizes that Germany produces many good, even great dry rieslings. As an importer, he occupies the painful position of embracing the virtues of one style, even if it may contribute to the demise of another, one that he adores. The wine panel felt Mr. Theise.s agony. I have loved Germany.s thrillingly tense sweet rieslings since I was a wine-lapping pup, and I wish to continue as the old dog I will one day become. The sweet style is thoroughly distinctive. Residual sugar is beautifully balanced by snappy acidity, making for a wine that is refreshing, even bracing, rather than cloying. No rieslings anywhere in the world are like these. Yet I can.t deny the appeal of the dry style. Few other dry rieslings capture a sense of place with as much crystalline precision and delicacy as Germany.s do. So I love them as well, and wonder why anyone should have to choose between them. Perhaps I.m a na�ve romantic, but in a heterogeneous world, the two styles should be able to thrive side by side. Having done our part to extol the pleasures of sweet rieslings in their kabinett, sp�tlese and auslese styles, the wine panel recently turned its attention to dry German rieslings. We tasted 20 bottles from the 2011 vintage. For the tasting, Florence Fabricant and I were joined by two other riesling lovers: Raj Vaidya, the head sommelier at Daniel, and Leo Schneemann, the sommelier at Kurt Gutenbrunner.s Austrian restaurants, including Walls�, Blaue Gans and Caf� Sabarsky. Regardless of our affection for these wines, we agreed that 2011 was not a great vintage. We found many wines that we liked, and a few that we loved, but our overall impression was that inconsistency marked the vintage. The effortless sense of pinpoint balance that makes German rieslings so distinctive was too often missing. What does that mean? In these dry wines, without the residual sweetness to create tension with the acidity, the balance must come instead from a wine.s body and texture, which include the components of alcohol and fruit. If captured properly, the wines feel full of energy, as if they are thrusting forward toward the next sip. If not, they feel flat and dull. To put it another way, many of the wines seemed to lack acidity, which makes 2011 an unusual contrast to 2010, when the level of acidity was fiendish. Such is the endless surprise and beauty of vintage variation. Strangely, some of the wines that I liked least seemed to have a phantom sense of sweetness to them, as if the wine itself was communicating what was missing. Is it possible that 2011 was a better vintage for making the sweet style than the dry, and that some of the dry 2011s might have been improved had they had a little residual sugar in the mix? Such paradox would be a bit too sweet, I.d say. Even so, the wines we liked best were deep and resonant, with energy to spare, all with a firm core of the mineral flavors that are so characteristic of German rieslings. The top five is like an honor roll of producers, with the important caveat that our selection of 20 bottles is a representative cross-section rather than a comprehensive survey. So while these were our favorites in the tasting, that.s a long way from saying these are the best dry German rieslings. They are simply awfully good ones. Our favorite was a mouthful: the Eitelsbacher Karth�userhofberg sp�tlese trocken from Karth�userhof in the Mosel, a complex, deep and energetic wine that offered just about everything we could want in a dry riesling. Not far behind were three others. The Dellchen Grosses Gew�chs from D�nnhoff in the Nahe is a beauty. Though still closed up, its precision and depth were apparent. It will need a couple of years to unwind a bit. The Winninger Hamm from Knebel in the Mosel was more immediately approachable, with rich, stony flavors, while the Von der Fels from Keller in the Rheinhessen was elegant and graceful. Likewise, it is already enjoyable. Incidentally, the Von der Fels is not Keller.s top dry riesling. Those wines are hard to find and very expensive. Nor are the other rieslings on our list necessarily the producers. top examples. Again, our aim was not to identify the best, but to look at a representative sample. While most of the names in our top 10 are well known, our best value, the Von Racknitz trocken from the Nahe, was new to me. It was deep, balanced and extraordinarily pleasing, and at $16, a great deal. I.ve steered clear of the knotty issue of German wine nomenclature here. Why? Because no matter how hard you try, it will not make sense. It doesn.t to me. As far as dry German riesling goes, the key word is .trocken.. Trocken means dry, and if the label says trocken, the wine will be dry. Nonetheless (and here is what.s maddening), while all wines labeled trocken will be dry, not all dry rieslings are labeled trocken. Some wines that are among a producer.s best may be labeled .grosses gew�chs,. that is, unless they come from the Rheingau region, in which case they may be labeled .erstes gew�chs.. At least I think that.s the way it works. One day in the distant future, German wine labeling rules will be easy to follow, and the dry and sweet styles will coexist in blissful harmony. Until then, we will muddle through and hope for the best. At least we can drink well. Tasting Report Karth�userhof, $40, *** � Mosel Eitelsbacher Karth�userhofberg Trocken 2011 Complex, layered and bold, with great energy, texture and depth. (Rudi Wiest/Cellars International, San Marcos, Calif.) D�nnhoff, $63, *** Nahe Dellchen Grosses Gew�chs 2011 Deep, tightly wound and precise, with lingering mineral flavors. (Terry Theise/Michael Skurnik Wines, Syosset, N.Y.) Knebel, $37, *** Mosel Winninger Hamm 2011 Focused and complex, with rich, stony flavors. (Louis/Dressner Selections, New York) Keller, $34, *** Rheinhessen Von der Fels 2011 Elegant and graceful, with aromas and flavors of minerals and flowers. (Petit Pois, Moorestown, N.J.) Immich-Batterieberg, $48, ** � Mosel Steffensberg Trocken 2011 Resonant aromas and flavors of minerals, flowers and peaches. (Louis/Dressner, New York) BEST VALUE Von Racknitz, $16, ** � Nahe Trocken 2011 Deep, rich and balanced, with citrus and earth flavors that linger. (Fruit of the Vines, Long Island City, N.Y.) Gut Hermannsberg, $33, ** � Nahe Schlossb�ckelheimer Trocken 2011 Graceful yet deep, with mineral and floral flavors. (Winemonger, San Anselmo, Calif.) Emrich-Sch�nleber, $37, ** Nahe Mineral Trocken 2011 Lightly fruity and straightforward, with earthy, herbal accents. (Petit Pois, Moorestown, N.J.) M�ller-Catoir, $30, ** Pfalz Haardt Kabinett Trocken 2011 Savory and resonant, with citrus and floral aromas and flavors. (Terry Theise/Michael Skurnik Wines, Syosset, N.Y.) Knauss, $19, ** W�rttemberg Trocken .G. 2011 Balanced and juicy, with floral, mineral and citrus flavors. (S�lection Massale, San Leandro, Calif.) -- ------------------------------ * Dr. James Ellingson, jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * mobile : 651/645-0753 * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 5219 Elliot Ave. S, Minneapolis, MN 55417 * * james(a)brewingnews.com James.Ellingson(a)StThomas.edu *