2011 Maximin Grunhauser Abtsberg Spatlese

A 2011 Maximin Grunhauser Abtsberg Riesling Auslese A.P. #25 represents the second of two bottlings of “regular” Auslese from this vintage and site. (I declined a generous invitation to taste the first – of which von Schubert had only a few magnums remaining when I visited. It carried A.P. #7 and was sold almost entirely in Germany.) White peach and quince accented with cress, lime and green herbs make for a refreshing and piquantly invigorating impression. While this lacks the suggestive creaminess of the A.P. #38 Spatlese, it displays winsome purity, buoyancy and juiciness. A hint of vanilla such as I seldom associate with this site adds to the attractions of a lingering finish. I would plan to follow this through at least 2030. Beginning with the late 1990s, I have tracked the dip in quality – following the retirement of veteran vineyard manager and cellar master Alphonse Heinrich – and then the gradual return to form of the von Schubert estate, one that during the second half of the 20th century arguably enjoyed as consistent a rate of vinous successes as any German wine producer, and whose vineyards’ prowess has been undisputed since the Middle Ages. That return to form – under the direction of Carl von Schubert (at the helm here since 1981) and Stefan Kraml (about to conclude his first decade as cellar master) is still ongoing – as those following my recent reports will recognize. It has been accompanied by some changes in style and labeling for certain bottlings, as well as by a slimming of their formerly huge numbers. (In the 1980s, virtually every possible combination and permutation of site, Pradikat and degree of dryness was represented each vintage.) There has been significant replanting, too, most recently the regrettable if perhaps inevitable grubbing up of some of the oldest vines in the Abtsberg (representing around 15% of the Einzellage). But any new vines at this address represent the estate’s own massale selections and the slate itself in these replanted selections has been meticulously reinforced using material that had slid to the bottom of the slope over the decades, or that has been excavated from the back side of the same hill. “We began our 2011 harvest in late September,” relates von Schubert, “but for two and a half weeks we didn’t pick much. This was really a pre-harvest to remove excess bunches and especially to remove any early botrytis, so as to ensure purity in the wines that would be picked subsequently. Optimal physiological ripeness really set in from mid-October; after which, we harvested with determination for the next three weeks.” Must weights essentially began at 95 Oechsle – despite yields of 55 hectoliters per hectare, ten more than the estate’s long-term average – so it is a credit to the Grunhaus team and sites not just that these 2011s as a whole retain what by vintage standards are quantitatively admirable and efficacious levels of acidity, but that even with dry wines commencing at 12.5% alcohol, many could easily pass for 11.5%. That having been noted, it is a reflection of the times in more than one sense that the former category of “Kabinett trocken” has been eliminated at Grunhaus: Not only is there an increasing movement among German Riesling growers generally to reserve Pradikat designations for residually sweet wine; but, in addition – at least, barring some major viticultural re-strategizing or re-thinking – few of the traditionally top Riesling sites are nowadays ripening Riesling at less than 12% potential alcohol. As exemplary quality returns to even the ostensibly lesser dry Rieslings at this estate – 40% of whose production, bear in mind, is legally trocken – I am starting to wonder (and need to test) whether these might not swing back toward exhibiting a bit of the longevity that characterized Herrenberg or Abtsberg Riesling Q.b.A. or Kabinett trocken bottlings of the 1980s and early 1990s (and, for that matter, also corresponding wines from the 1950s and 1960s). Granted, the wines of those eras were routinely in the 10-11% alcohol range, but historically they aged superbly well even in those at that time rare vintages when alcohol exceeded 12% and acid levels were relatively low. (Granted also, the use of screw-cap closure with certain wines in this lower price segment will be considered at least by some skeptics as a bit of a wild card in projecting longevity.) “Eventually, there was a second infection of botrytis: clean, but not much of it,” concludes von Schubert’s account of vintage 2011. The number of special Auslesen or Beerenauslesen to be bottled from that material had not yet been definitively decided as of my visit last September, and a lone T.B.A. was likely to have remained in tank through at least early this year. Incidentally, as my scores already testify, I cannot recall a vintage at Grunhaus in which performances by the great Abtsberg in all styles so consistently and to such a degree surpassed those of its larger neighbor Herrenberg. Importer: Loosen Bros., USA Ltd., Oregon City, OR; tel.(503) 984-3041