Hexamer Sauvignon Blanc Trocken

點擊次數(shù)：1771

Although I did not taste all of Hexamer’s non-Riesling wines this year, I felt I owed it to readers and to him to pass judgment on his inaugural bottling of Germany’s fad grape, and that 2009 Sauvignon Blanc mingled honeydew melon, gooseberry, coriander, and sage in a varietally typical and pungently reductive display. Juicy and refreshing if faintly bitter, and adeptly hiding its 13% alcohol, this is a successful, ripe Sauvignon that should be enjoyed over the coming year. But here’s the insidious part – and the temptation to young vintners: this wine commands a higher price than any of Hexamer’s dry Rieslings save for his so-called “Non Plus Ultra” bottling! 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