2010 Eitelsbacher Karthauserhofberg TBA 40

Picked-out in the old Kronenberg, Tyrell’s 2010 Eitelsbacher Karthauserhofberg Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese surprises for its vintage in harboring slightly less acidity than does the corresponding B.A. “Nr. 20.” But what you can read on paper is insignificant compared with the surprises in store when you taste this singular elixir whose compelling personality is quite unlike that of virtually any other 2010 I’ve tasted. Pear nectar, nectarine preserves, quince jelly, marzipan, nutmeg, and white raisin dominate the nose and luxuriantly creamy, buoyant palate, with acids and extract managing to restrain the sense of sweetness despite a personality so confitured and confectionary. Salted caramel, crystallized ginger, glazed pineapple, and candied lemon rind serve for invigoration and salivation in a lusciously long and otherwise soothing, delicately mille-feuille finish. This might with time end up being one of the greatest wines of the vintage and it is certainly one of the most distinctive. I would say anyone young enough today has fifty years to rind learn the rest of the story. ”For the dry wines, it was clear that the musts had to be de-acidified,” asserts Christoph Tyrell, for whom trocken bottlings form not only the majority of his production but also the portion closest to his own palate and heart. The results are less vintage-typical than at many addresses, but one could get a good argument going as to whether or not that is a compliment when it comes to Riesling trocken. “It was painful,” Tyrell narrates, “to witness blocks that were healthy one day and rot-afflicted the next, yet to have to keep waiting to pick. I don’t want to experience any more of this kind of pressure from Nature!” The glory of this year’s collection is its nobly sweet wines which were for the most part picked ahead of the rest. As Tyrell likes to emphasize, waning days, cooler nights, and an increasing dew point all work against retaining really noble rot in the late innings, even assuming it doesn’t rain (which obviously one couldn’t in 2010). That said, Tyrell’s couple of later-picked vintage 2010 elixirs are quite distinctly delectable. Importer: Rudi Wiest, Cellars International, Carlsbad, CA 800 596 9463