Ratzenberger Riesling Kabinett

點擊次數(shù)：1998

The Ratzenberger 2009 Riesling Kabinett comes from the St. Jost, but they intend to bottle it with a generic label so that it cannot be confused with the halbtrocken Kabinett from that site. As mentioned in my introduction to tasting notes on this collection, Ratzenbergers release mature residually-sweet Kabinetts, so normally they don’t let me taste this bottling young, not being keen to see it written about years before these will be sold. (The 2003 and 2004 renditions are currently in the U.S. market!) Scents and bright, juicy flavors of lemon and grapefruit are perfectly complimented by 30 grams of residual sugar (low by the now-prevailing standards of this genre); and with the high acidity in play here, the wine tastes almost dry. (So just imagine the effect on release some years from now!) There is a lovely sense of transparency here to alkaline and wet stone elements and a satisfyingly long finish. Expect even more finesse and complexity by the time this is finally available for sale, and don’t worry about its fading before the age of 15. The two Jochen Ratzenbergers began picking early in October and were done by the end of that month, with – to the extent that I could assess them – consistently fine results. The collection included only a single botrytis wine, a Wolfshohle Auslese that had received some special press recognition in Germany very early, on account of which the father-son team claimed not to have even a single bottle to show me. What was to have been this year’s Bacharacher Posten Spatlese halbtrocken resolutely stopped fermenting with 30 grams of residual sugar; and I can’t offer a note on the results, because some Swiss merchant had bought every last bottle from Ratzenbergers. The 180 liters of Ratzenberger 2009 Kloster Furstental Eiswein had not nearly finished fermenting when I tasted it, but even in its leesy, cloudy, and still-active state it was clear that this would become an impressively concentrated libation. (It started life at 210 Oechsle and at the steady fermentative tempo which it had exhibited through September, was expected to officially become wine by last Christmas – though when it would be deemed “finished” was anybody’s guess.) Speaking of which, Ratzenbergers have just taken over some additional acreage in the Kloster Furstental, which in future might result in other single-vineyard bottlings from that site. “We couldn’t take all of the acreage that was offered,” relates the younger Jochen Ratzenberger, “but we took what we could handle. We want to do our part to see that this amazing steep site remains planted.” The absence of suggested retail pricing for many Ratzenberger wines I review could, I decided, use some explanation. By arrangement with their importers – as a survey of the U.S. marketplace confirms – only their lightest-weight wines are released by the Ratzenbergers in the year following their bottling (and even then, not their sweeter Kabinett from the St. Jost). But as wines with bottle age are released, Spatlesen have tended lately to sell in the $30 retail range; Auslesen and Grosse Gewachse in the $45-50 retail range, confirming Ratzenberger Rieslings as superb values.Imported by Sussex Wine Merchants, Moorestown, NJ; tel. (856) 608 9644