Battenfeld-Spanier Molsheimer Riesling Trocken

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Spanier’s 2011 Molsheimer Riesling trocken is scented with fresh lemon and Hubbard squash that go on to inform a juicy, clear, yet surprisingly lush palate, accented with peach kernel and toasted almond. These cool vineyards manage to retain refined and efficacious acidity in a warm and precocious vintage like 2011, but in this instance we haven’t the complex dynamic nor – for now at least – the sense of mineral dimension found in this year’s generic or Hohen-Sulzen bottlings. Oliver Spanier (for an account of his methods and still internationally little-known sites, consult especially my issue 185 report) began picking on September 20, 2011 and didn’t finish until November 2 (in his Am Schwarzen Herrgott parcel), an indication of the micro-climatic, topographical and geological diversity among his sites in three communes. That it was necessary to cull botrytis this year is evidenced in an unprecedented set of brilliantly successful nobly sweet wines from this normally trocken-only estate. (Mea Culpa: Somehow, I let Spanier omit pouring me samples of this year’s Eisbach Riesling or his and Gillot’s 2010 CO Riesling – always late-released – without my realizing the omissions and asking that they be remedied.)Imported by Domaine Select Wine Estates, New York, NY; tel. (212) 279-0799

Spanier’s 2010 Molsheimer Riesling trocken displays a firm, bright, metaphorically cool impression such as calls to mind the microclimate prevailing in this chalky site. Yellow plum, lemon, and crushed stone inform the nose as well as a somewhat bitterly fruit pit- and citrus pip-tinged palate; and while this registers the same 12.5% alcohol, it doesn’t display the lift or elegance of its village-level Hohen-Sulzen counterpart. I would tentatively plan on drinking it over the next 3-4 years. This year’s Battenfeld-Spanier collection – which, in Oliver Spanier’s unavoidable absence, I tasted with his father-in-law Roland Gillot – proved on the whole far more generous in vinous personality than that of nuptial partner-estate Kuhling-Gillot. And while the higher-alcohol and more aggressive phenolics in this estate’s Grosses Gewachs bottlings had in the past led me to sometimes prefer their lighter, more elegant and refreshing, if ostensibly lesser, “village” cuvees, in 2010 the crus were neither alcoholically-freighted nor – with one exception – overly astringent. (Incidentally, I missed tasting this year’s generic Battenfeld-Spanier Riesling.)Imported by Domaine Select Wine Estates, New York, NY; tel. (212) 279-0799

Spanier's 2009 Molsheimer Riesling trocken - given its origin in cooler microclimates than those in the commune of Hohen-Sulzen - offers an excellent opportunity for him to illustrate his stated preference for finesse and elegance, and there is a bright, tart mingling of yellow plum and lemon here that certainly refreshes, while flinty pungency in the nose, berry seed tartness, nutty piquancy, and invigorating, saliva-inducing salinity on the palate contribute admirable vibrancy and enticement to take the next sip. To be sure, there is an element of bitterness present here but it's well-integrated and steps away in the finish. This should prove delightfully versatile over at least the next 4-6 years. Oliver Spanier - for information about whose distinctive sites and methods consult especially my report in issue 185 - harvested until November 3, 2009, allowing almost an entire month for optimizing ripeness. Just as at their Kuhling-Gillot estate, the team of Spanier and his wife Carolin Gillot seek to avoid bottling non-trocken wines, instead blending away any lots that finish with more than 9 grams of residual sugar. Spanier is among the many German Riesling growers who - in his words - are "working in the direction of clarity, freshness, finesse and elegance of expression rather than extract or power" (for which he used the English word). But it's one thing to talk the talk and another to walk the walk - assuming that one is attracted by these stated goals - and in that respect, Spanier is not the only ambitious German grower I have encountered whose ostensibly lesser bottlings (from 2009, anyway) strike me as living up to his stated ideals better than do his Grosse Gewachse. Imported by Domaine Select Wine Estates, New York, NY; tel. (212) 279-0799

Reflecting cooler, breezier locations and a chalkier as well as more iron-rich soil than in Hohen-Sulzen, the Battenfeld-Spanier 2008 Molsheimer Riesling trocken smells beautifully of fresh apple and quince laced with lime peel, herbs, along with wafting honeysuckle, heliotrope, and sea-spray mineral suggestions. Apple skin and lime zest tartness plus frisky acidity lend a more bracing aspect than the wine’s aromas had led me to expect, and it finishes with grip but less complexity or elegance than its Hohen-Sulzen counterpart. In cooler years – Spanier points out – Molsheim can be marginal in ripeness, and only against a background of tightly controlled yields (he sticks to around 40 hectoliters per hectare) can one really succeed. Still, this will prove attractively versatile, and I harbor hope that over the next 4-5 years its palate might come closer to living up to its bouquet. Oliver Spanier – for a bit about whose distinctive sites and methods see issue 185 – harvested his 2008 vintage Rieslings from mid-October through the first week of November, and reports having performed no de-acidification.Importer: Domaine Select Wine Estates, New York, NY; tel. (212) 279-0799