Dr Deinhard (Von Winning) Forster Ungeheuer Riesling Trocken

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Mirabelle, grapefruit, and myriad herbs scent the Von Winning 2009 Forster Ungeheuer Riesling trocken (A.P. #25, lest it be confused with the corresponding Spatlese trocken bottling, A.P. #21), then migrate to a palate of infectious juiciness, silken texture, and fine length. The new 500-liter barrel employed here made up 30% of the assemblage and is quite harmoniously integrated into the resinous, herbal elements already typical for Ungeheuer, but there is a faint sense of diffusion and earthiness that I also often experience with this site, even in an instance like this (or the corresponding Burklin-Wolf bottling) where we are dealing with the best portions of this heterogeneous site. I expect this will be worth following for at least 5-7 years. (There were eleven different lots to select among from this estate’s extensive acreage of Ungeheur for three eventual bottlings, which as Attmann reminds me explains why Ungeheuer will never be bottled by him as a Grosses Gewachs as long as the Pfalz VDP forbids the bottling of vineyard-designated dry wines supplemental to a Grosses Gewachs bottling from the same site.) For an account of recent changes of ownership, winemaker, and style at this estate, I urge readers to consult my reports in issues 185 and 187. To repeat as regards issues of labeling, the top dry wines here are being bottled – sans Pradikat – under the “Von Winning” label that in fact corresponds to the new official name of this estate, while a second range that includes some residually sweet Rieslings continues to be labeled with the more familiar designation “Dr. Deinhard.” It’s possible also that some dry wines may be bottled in part with one label and partly with the other. The best I felt I could do to avoid confusion is to refer in the text of my tasting notes to the label under which I tasted each wine, but to treat “Dr. Deinhard - Von Winning” as the estate’s name for our purposes and ask readers to look-out for either designation on the label. And look-out you should, because passionate young arriviste Stephan Attmann and veteran (though still young) vineyard manager Joachim Jaillet are putting some head-turning quality into bottle. Incidentally, the vines personally farmed by Attmann’s mentor, long-time Muller-Catoir cellarmaster Hans-Gunter Schwarz, on the villa of multi-estate-owner Achim Niederberger will be incorporated after 2010 (in a manner to be determined) into the production of Deinhard and Von Winning. A very small volume of 2009 vintage wines will be bottled by Schwarz under the Villa Niederberger label, but I did not taste those. (For my report on the corresponding 2008s – which were never exported – see issue 187) The team here harvested Riesling until October 29, and the integration of one new 500 liter French barrel into each of the top dry bottlings – an expedient in lieu of large fuders – has met with a success that one can now compare with that scored by similar means at the newly-launched Immich-Batterieberg estate on the Mosel (for more on which, consult my issue 192 report on their outstanding 2009s). Attmann – a self-confessed wine geek whose range of experience astounds me – professes to admire in white Burgundy the “cool touch” of Meursault from Fichet, Jobard, or Roulot, and it’s not just on account of the use of French barrels that one finds fascinating parallels between his dry Rieslings from the great vineyards of the Mittelhaardt and some top wines of Meursault or even Chablis.Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300

A 2008 Forster Ungeheuer Riesling trocken is one of the majority of Deinhard wines labeled “Von Winningen,” whereas two other Forster Ungeheuer trocken (which I have also reviewed) are labeled with a Pradikat and “Dr. Deinhard.” The Pfalz VDP won’t permit this multiplicity of vineyard-designates if you are bottling a wine from the same site as Grosses Gewachs. A greenhouse-like mingling of flowers and greenery in the nose combines with roasted root vegetables and toasted nuts on a palate, showcasing the earthy, slightly rustic side of this site. That rusticity seems to have been reinforced by the effects of a small percentage aged in small barrels. That said, this displays depth and amplitude without any heaviness, and finishes with real force. It may well be that these phenolically more-endowed dry Rieslings are going to have great stamina in the bottle, as certainly a good case can be made for their being fashioned in something more closely resembling the methods of 50 or even 100 years ago, eras from which dry Pfalz Rieslings are known to remain remarkably fresh even today. But if I had to handicap this, I’d say count on at least 6-8 years and monitor it along the way. For general updates on the change of ownership and radical recent developments at this venerable estate, I refer readers to my report in issue 185. The official winery name is now Von Winning and the Dr. Deinhard label will be used only for selected wines, not including any of the ostensibly top dry bottlings. I have conjoined the names, and continued to use Dr. Deinhard as a shorthand, because that is still how this winery is routinely referred to (even inside Germany), and readers should simply be on the lookout for either of these names on a label as an indication that it came from the winery in question (and, what’s more, is worth tasting). Young wine-geek-as-director Stefan Attmann – another of the many protegees of Hans-Gunter Schwarz, whose friend Joachim Niederberger now owns the winery – is attacking his work here with frenetic passion, but you have only to taste the latest crop of wines to recognize what discipline and determination he and his vineyard manager Joachim Jaillet (with whom I toured their sites) also bring to their jobs. Aspects of vinification worth bearing in mind are skin contact; near-absence of sedimentation; largely spontaneous fermentation; absence of fining; and filtration only immediately before bottling. (Common practice with German Riesling is still to filter at least twice.) “No risk, no fun,” is among Attmann’s mottos, though as he pointed out, the low pHs and cool weather of 2008 improved one’s odds. The U.S. importer, incidentally, offered last year a much extended range of 2007s, so that with two exceptions the stateside prices for wines of the 2008 vintage have not been set, although many can be expected to arrive here in the course of 2010. Precisely which wines of Deinhard will in future be bottled as Grosses Gewachs remains up in the air. The winery is promoting several individual parcels – i.e. not official post 1971 Einzellagen – for this status.Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300