Hexamer Riesling Trocken A P #17

點擊次數(shù)：1911

Originating principally in the Meddersheimer Altenberg and Sobernheimer Marbach vineyards, Hexamer’s 2009 Riesling trocken A.P. #17 projects a silken texture and more palpable sense of extract as well as saline, stony mineral character than his A.P. #19. The trade-off is a bit less levity and exuberant juiciness, but there is a lovely alliance of ripe pear and fresh lime that serves for lip-smacking persistence. Once again, Hexamer has achieved notable quality for an inexpensive generic bottling, and one that should drink well for at least the next three years. There will be another bottling of generic trocken (A.P.# not yet determined, last I corresponded with Hexamer) that will consist of this cuvee augmented by a remnant of Riesling from the Rheingrafenberg, a wine which its author therefore promises will be even more mineral and interesting. 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