2011 Saarburger Rausch Auslese

As explained in my introduction to coverage of this estate, the Zilliken 2011 Saarburger Rausch Riesling Auslese A.P. #1 is a product of selection for golden shriveled-but-healthy berries. Mango, Persian melon, and pink grapefruit are aptly supported by high sugar; but at the same time, aggressive tartness of fresh lemon and apple make for a somewhat bifurcated as well as raucously high acid impression. Black tea smokiness and lemon rind pungency lend prickle to nose and palate. The levity; intense penetration; and saliva-inducing salinity that characterized this year-s auction Spatlese are here present in spades - unsurprisingly, when one considers that the two wines were picked contemporaneously and under identical principles of selection. And Zilliken suggests that some of the restlessness and angularity I experience here vis-a-vis that Spatlese could be a result of this Auslese representing an assemblage of three casks that might take a year or more to fully marry. It should still perform well in 2040 - but its acidity should have toned-down a bit by then, and (were I expecting to live that long!), I wouldn-t be surprised to witness enhanced complexity. Hanno and Dorothee Zilliken could truly glory in a 2011 harvest whose lowest must weight material was already legally Auslese, thanks to their having managed, despite that fact, to render many wines of genuine delicacy, and absolutely none in which levels of either alcohol or residual sugar became problematic. Mind you, when it comes to residual sugar, I can-t offhand recall wines from any vintage at this estate that seemed overly-sweet, so uncanny and hence storied has been Hanno Zilliken-s knack for showcasing Riesling-s talent at hiding sugar. But he was quite correct when he predicted, -You will be astonished to discover that we managed to render Saarburg Riesling trocken of just 11% alcohol.- That this is indeed consistent with Auslese-level must weights is simply a matter of math and chemistry, but sadly one seldom witnesses it. -We-ve never bottled so much dry wine,- notes Zilliken of his 2011 collection as a whole, -but the conditions were perfect for it.- Picking began on the 4th of that month, as soon as a hot spell had relented, and concluding October 25. In view of the enormous number of botrytis bottlings associated with this vintage, not to mention with past performances of this estate, their absence from the 2011 Zilliken collection initially seems remarkable. But in light of the mixed 2011 results displayed in this genre even at many of Germany-s top Riesling addresses, Hanno Zilliken-s narrative renders that absence understandable. -We started searching and selecting for botrytis,- he explains, -but the material was far from homogeneous, and we just didn-t find the precision for which we look. Already in August we had wasps, and in early September the berries began pressing against one another in the compact bunches on younger vines. It was a hard decision, but I want to be able to sleep easily at night, and finally I decided: -We-re not accepting one single brown berry; only golden shriveled berries.-- Given both the stylistic range of this uniformly successful collection, I found it hard to believe that all of it was bottled already in late March and early April following harvest. Incidentally, although since 2009 - in keeping with VDP strictures and models - Zillikens have bottled numerous wines without the -Rausch- vineyard-designation, all of their non-Ockfen wines, in fact, now officially grow in that site, since the two adjacent Einzellagen - Antoniusbrunnen and Begschlosschen - in which Zilliken had minimal holdings were mustered out two years ago and their acreage subsumed under -Rausch.- (Details on recent changes in labeling at this estate and be found in part in my introduction in Issue 199, and otherwise within the relevant tasting notes comprising this report.) Importer: Rudi Wiest, Cellars International, Carlsbad, CA; tel. (800) 596-9463

Fascinatingly, where Hanno Zilliken produced no less than six Auslesen in 2010, in 2011 there was only one as botrytis refused to play ball. No long gold capsule or simple gold capsule then, but just one stunning Auslese with perfect balance between opulent grapefruit and orange, fresh acidity and creamy texture. Some things don’t change from one year to another, and the tangy citrus flavour and zesty expression produce the same lively act of class as in 2010. Wonderful, and at €40, almost a bargain. (MS)