Max Ferd. Richter Muhlheimer Sonnenlay Riesling Spatlese Feinherb

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A Richter 2009 Muhlheimer Sonnenlay Riesling Spatlese feinherb displays juicy peach with strong peach kernel piquancy; impeccable, subtly sweet balance; a polished texture; and a long finish tinged by fresh citrus and stone. This might pick up some complexity in coming years and ought certainly to perform well for at least a dozen. Incidentally, Richter reports considerable success both at home and in export markets with promoting subtly-sweet Rieslings labeled as “feinherb” which he rather originally renders as “off-dry-ish” on his US export back labels. While yields were down significantly in Muhlheim and Brauneberg – particularly due to peronospora – and sorting almost universally required, Dirk Richter reports that his overall 2009 crop was above- average volume, though he acknowledges that due to the need for relatively intensive spraying against fungal pests, both its ripening and the evolution of the resulting wines were retarded. Kabinetts were not picked until the last days of October; acid levels of most wines are well above vintage average; there was little Auslese; and some wines (Kabinetts, as it happens!) had not yet bottled when I visited in September. Richer – whose Rieslings from top sites continue to be bargain-priced – has just taken over a section of Erdener Treppchen that is in the family of his cellarmaster, who has no heirs. While there were still stocks of some 2008 vintage Rieslings available when I visited in September, the 2009 Richter Pinot Blanc had already been sold out without remainder, so I did not get chance to taste that of-late often promising bottling.Importer: Langdon-Shiverick Cleveland, OH; tel. (216) 861-6800

Richter’s 2007 Muhlheimer Sonnenlay Riesling Spatlese feinherb gives off zesty citric pungency and smokiness that suggest a brush with botrytis (though he denies it). Rich and imposing on the palate but not heavy; texturally firm, though not hard; well-balanced, with barely detectable sweetness; this nevertheless lacks the elegance or eloquence of the corresponding Kabinett. Perhaps it needs time or was caught at a difficult moment. Dirk Richter is an historian of the Mosel as well as one of the region’s foremost growers, and he claims that on five occasions in the eleven years between and including the epochal vintages of 1911 and 1921, flowering on the Mosel took place in May ... but then not again until 2007. He started picking already in early October, but only as a means of thinning (“pre-harvesting”) his Brauneberg vineyards, and the resultant Kabinett is rather green in flavor. Harvest did not begin in earnest here until mid-October, and save for the two T.B.A.s that he painstakingly collected, Richter insists there was scarcely any botrytis. Interesting, the yields from Richter’s Wehlener Sonnenuhr vineyards – his only remaining ungrafted vines – were the highest this year that he has ever experienced, and the wines are by no means disappointing (although Auslese was not possible). The grip exhibited by his dry-tasting wines may in part come from the skin contact Richter gives most of them, in part to buffer their acids. Still, as he puts it, “with the intense minerality, strong acidity, and very low pH of Mosel Riesling, some residual sugar is needed. And here, with feinherb-as-trocken, that need is borne out quite clearly, and the wine tastes dry, and people drink it as ‘dry’.” What’s more, lower alcohol helps these “dry” Riesling dance. If feinherb (often as high here as 25 grams in residual sugar) works on Richter’s German customers, halleluiah! For anybody else, these feinherb Kabinetts should be no-brainers, especially at his prices. Richer shares my enthusiasm for the undeservedly obscure and misunderstood Pinot Blanc (a.k.a. Wiesser Burgunder), and is in process of doubling his acreage and planning to produce some Sekt from it as wellImporter: Langdon-Shiverick Cleveland,?OH; tel. (216) 861-6800

Richter’s 2006 Muhlheimer Sonnenlay Riesling Spatlese feinherb weighs in at only 11.5% alcohol – less than the feinherb Kabinetts – not so much on account of higher residual sugar, but rather, as Richter says, “because the must weight was lower here. But the wine showed more elegance and refinement, so I labeled it as ‘Spatlese.’” There were advantages this year both to the Sonnenlay’s elevation and the location in a side valley. This indeed shows refined richness of peach and persimmon, with juicy fresh citrus and saline and stony manifestations of minerality that make for an invigorating and interesting finish. It should prove versatile for 10-12 years. “My minmum must weight was 100,” says Dirk Richter, almost in tones of exasperation, rendering it hard to craft lighter-weight wines, particularly at the restrained levels of residual sugar that usually characterize his estate. Some of Richter’s dry-tasting wines had difficulty coming to terms with their alcohol, and as he was the first to admit, in 2006 this could happen even with “feinherb” wines of more than 15 grams residual sugar. He wasn’t able to get his full picking crew (mostly Poles) in place until October 10, and many of this years wines appeared to struggle with the rougher aspects of botrytis and/or the effects of having tried to remove their taint from the musts. “We ended up just leaving the grapes hanging in some parcels,” says this veteran, “which is something I have never experienced.” (Incidentally, Richter and his importer appear to have collaborated in lowering his prices in the U.S. market for this vintage, despite the weak dollar.)Importer: Langdon-Shiverick Cleveland, OH; tel. (216) 861-6800