Hexamer Weissburgunder (Pinot Blanc) Trocken A P # 11

點擊次數(shù)：2365

The tank-raised Hexamer 2009 Weissburgunder trocken A.P. #11 (grown in the Rheingrafenberg) is initially less creamy or nutty than the corresponding 2008, but offers lovely Normandy apple cider fruit and invigorating salinity to complement its effusively juicy and refreshing finish. Subtle notes of raw hazelnut and piquant lime peel help extend the finish of a Pinot Blanc that should prove versatile over the next 2-3 years, and which as it took on air gained in typically alluring creaminess of texture. This and the corresponding cask-vinified 2009 Weissburgunder S represent a breakthrough in quality for Hexamer with this grape variety. (There will be a second bottling of this same lot that will benefit from additional lees contact and have its own A.P.#.) 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