2009 Riesling Idig Grosses Gewachs

Based on borings recently done in the vineyard "as well, of course, on performance in the glass " Steffen Christmann hypothesizes that the 20 year old vines here have now extended their roots down into the deep chalk that lies well below this site's loess surface. Strongly peaty, crushed stone, salty, cyanic, and fusil notes in the nose of the Christmann 2009 Konigsbacher Idig Riesling Grosses Gewachs ally themselves to a for this collection unusually ripely- and juicily-fruited amalgam of peach, papaya, and grapefruit. There is a Chablis-like sense of interactive complexity in the finish here, though it is a bit phenolically rough-hewn in comparison with the corresponding Mandelgarten and Reiterpfad. This may well show more refinement with a few years of bottle age and ought certainly to remain fresh for at least half a dozen. Once again, Steffen and Karl-Friedrich Christmann's collection of firm dry Rieslings (smaller in number than in other recent years) has struck my palate as rather relentlessly consistent in its straight-laced and at times brusquely piquant style. I frequently find myself wanting these wines to loosen-up and show greater primary juiciness and sweetly-ripe fruit, especially this year, given the relatively generous tendencies I associate with the 2009 vintage. Certainly nobody can accuse this team of having harvested prematurely. They picked well into October precisely because, opines Karl-Friedrich Christmann, "until then, the fruit wasn't really ripe." "Most of the wines," notes Steffen Christmann, "had fermented completely by mid-December, with only a very few lingering into January" and he was happy to point out that even those labeled as containing 13% of alcohol generally harbored slightly less than that amount. "This," he suggested, picking up a refrain I hear often, though I have no way of testing its basic claim, "is at least in retrospect one of the advantages of biodynamic cultivation, namely ripe flavors and relatively long hang times at moderate must weights and consequently moderate alcohol. For me, the ideal way would be to have no more 14 or 14.5% monsters but nonetheless have complexity, and I think that's the path we're on." Incidentally, I found the finished 2007 Pinot Noir Grosses Gewachs here worrisomely high in volatiles and drying in finish, continuing to feel uneasily as though I must be missing something in evaluating Christmann reds, none of which I tasted from barrel on this most recent outing. Imported by Domaine Select Wine Estates, New York, NY; tel. (212) 279-0799