Weingut Hexamer Meddersheimer Rheingrafenberg Riesling Beerenauslese, Nahe, Germany

點擊次數(shù)：2466

Harvested at the end of October in the Eisendell, Hexamer’s 2009 Meddersheimer Rheingrafenberg Riesling Beerenauslese represents the minuscule, tiny-berried crop from vines in only their second year. “We worked the soil intensively already in the first year of these vines,” says Hexamer by way of possible explanation for there even having been fruit already the following year. “And even then,” he adds, “we did a selection, rejecting some of the berries.” Predictably, this Riesling comes off almost weightlessly buoyant and displays a pure fruit akin to Normandy apple cider and quince preserves, here mingled with salted nut brittle and evincing smoky notes of tobacco and black tea. The finish is quite subtle and understated for all of its near-interminable length. The overall effect is pristine and pretty, a perfect picture of these vines’ precocious fruits. Perhaps with time additional complexity will emerge in these 300 liters of wine that will surely stand up to at least two decades of aging. Harald Hexamer continues to expand his acreage in response to what I can well appreciate are almost irresistible offerings, and the latest round of sell-offs by one of the Nahe’s best-known and once-renowned estates at the beginning of 2011 is I suspect going to test the limits of Hexamer’s ambition and abilities to absorb yet more vineyards. (The number of 2009 vintage wines I have had to reference with A.P. #s due to there being alternate bottlings is in itself testimony to the rapid expansion of this estate.) No one who has followed this young grower over the past decade, though, can accuse him of lacking seriousness, and he has been subjecting his stylistic ideals and his accomplishments to rigorous examination, knowing he must balance the potential value of experimentalism with the need to focus both his attention to individual wines and his stylistic range. These latest results reveal a grower increasingly sure in touch and displaying a defter sense of balance at both the dry and sweet ends of the spectrum. By a considerable margin, they constitute this estate’s most consistently excellent collection in my experience. With the exception of a couple of partial lots of generic dry Riesling, no 2009s were de-acidified, and a majority of the dry wines kicked into spontaneous fermentation, although Hexamer brought cultured yeasts to bear in order to promote dryness. Both an Eiswein and a T.B.A. from the Rheingrafenberg were still fermenting in September and I’ll have to report on those along with Hexamer’s 2010s.Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300