2009 Nackenheimer Rothenberg Auslese

Marking the point near the end of harvest in mid-November at which a modest amount of botrytis began to play a role in this vintage, Gunderloch’s 2009 Nackenheimer Rothenberg Riesling Auslese is however most immediately memorable for its savory, saline sense of browned butter and saliva-inducing shrimp and lobster shell reduction – evidenced already in the nose – and its profusion of peach, musk melon, peony, orange, and buddleia that represent essentially classic expressions of this great site. Some Loire-like sense of quince preserves as well as a refreshing lusciousness of citrus sorbet – both features in common with the corresponding Spatlese – add allure to the rich, glossy, yet (at 7.5% alcohol) delicate and wafting palate performance on exhibit here. A soothing yet uplifting finish endowed with the aforementioned savory and citric streaks manages to largely offset high residual sugar. I would plan to make my stock of this last (assuming I were myself going to last that long!) for three decades, anticipating an even more interesting wine a dozen years from now. Fritz and Agnes Hasselbach – who now have a new cellarmaster, Rhinehessian Joachim Janss – reported must weights from 2009 on average lower than in most recent vintages, which helps account for their reduced crop of Grosse Gewachse, Spatlese, and Auslese. “The foliage remained green” reports Fritz Hasselbach due to a lighter October frost than in many other Riesling-growing sectors, “but despite that, the must weights plateaued after the middle of that month – for the most part at around 90 Oechsle – and just didn’t go any higher.” Although there are now drip lines in these vineyards, the Hasselbachs report not having had to utilize them in 2009 as enough moisture was stored-up from the rains of early summer to keep their vines from suffering in any way under the onslaught of dry heat that came later on. Unfortunately, what has here become the usual round of picking in December, January, or even February of botrytis elixirs was not to take place from vintage 2009, since – presumably driven by last winter’s combination of deep snow and extreme cold – birds and other animals somehow successfully breached the nets in which the Hasselbach’s vines were shrouded and made short work of nearly all their remaining grapes. I am thus able already to report on the entire 2009 collection from this address, as well as on the pair of nobly sweet wines of 2008 that were harvested at the end of January, wines that inhabit their own world rather than reflecting vintage character, and which had not yet finished fermenting when I visited to taste in September, 2009 for my issue 187 report. Imported: Rudi Wiest, Cellars International, Carlsbad, CA; tel. 800 596 9463