2010 Bockenauer Felseneck Spatlese Goldkapsel

Schafer-Frohlich’s 2010 Bockenauer Felseneck Riesling Spatlese Gold Capsule shares almost the same gross chemical analysis as its “regular” counterpart and originated in similarly largely botrytis-free fruit, but in what is arguably the sweet spot of the entire Einzellage, and a location with somewhat deeper, more particulate soil than the Felseneck norm. Thanks to the miracle of acid-sugar-extract balance, this also tastes no sweeter, which is to say that its sweetness (and for that matter its high acidity) isn’t something you especially notice. Chiffon-like in delicacy and tenderness, this buoyant beauty combines ripe honeydew, white peach, and lime – wreathed in high-toned herbal essences – with a nip of cress; impingement of slate stone; and saliva-liberating salinity. The effect is dynamically and contrastingly complex as well as utterly compelling of the next sip, and should last for at least two decades. Tim Frohlich – in by now familiar fashion – did not begin harvesting until late October of 2010, and kept picking until rain and snow fell here on November 26 and 27 respectively. Photographic evidence testifies to largely healthy, gold-green berries – and what’s more, green foliage – well into November. To hedge his bets, Frohlich organized multiple pickings of fruit destined for his Grosse Gewachse, with the result that these prestige bottlings – all of which ended up with 6-8 grams of residual sugar and close to 13% alcohol – reflect a more diverse range of fruit character than usual and, moreover, collectively represent a higher volume of wine than in 2008 or 2009. (And, as noted in Issue 192, the cumulative Schafer-Frohlich Grosse Gewachse of the 2009 vintage already amounted to a substantial 25,000 bottles. It was in residually sweet and especially in dry generic bottlings where Frohlich’s 2010 volume plummeted.) Other than Grosse Gewachse, musts destined for dryness were “double salt” de-acidified, but those destined for residually sweet wines, attests Frohlich, not at all. He thinks that long hang time – cold though it might be in November, and even after no further dissipation of malic acidity is possible – results in a more harmonious expression of high acidity, even if there is no analytically measurable difference to which he can point. Furthermore, he insists that certain vintages – of which he considers 2010 a prime example – require the shock of cold to mollify potentially harsh, green phenolics and thus rendering beneficial a regimen of pre-fermentative skin contact, in which he in any event indulged only cautiously, experimenting with various durations. That the combination of Frohlich’s reductive vinification and always sharply delineated style with the sharp edges and energy inherent in 2010 makes for some extreme results, can come as little surprise – nor can the fact that most of them are extremely delicious! This estate continues to expand, lately in both its signature Felseneck as well as Bockenau’s less well-known (but no less steep) Stromberg. Imported by Rudi Wiest, Cellars International, Carlsbad, CA; tel. 800 596 9463