2010 Brunnenhauschen Riesling Grosses Gewachs

Bittersweet floral notes in the nose of Wittmanns’ 2010 Westhofener Brunnenhauschen Riesling Grosses Gewachs – which, as usual, originates with the small parcel of mature vines they have on this site, and thus represents a very small lot – are joined by tomato and grapefruit on a brightly juicy yet subtly creamy palate that projects a lovely sense of transparency to floral, chalky, and crystalline notes. A rich suggestion of nut oils adds depth and balances the brightness while piquancy of citrus rind and char are deftly woven into the wine’s long finish. I suspect there will be 6-8 years of fascination here (though given how recently Wittmann began bottling this fruit one cannot refer to a track record). Philipp Wittmann is always happy when (as is usually the case for his musts) fermentations go quickly, as he considers this ideal for capturing fruit. But his 2010s were having none of that plan! In the end, the active fermentative time and supplemental stays on their lees thereafter no doubt helped compensate for high acids and otherwise enrich what are still a relatively lean, not to mention bright bunch. “I was very concerned to monitor levels of malic acid,” says Wittmann, one of the minority to tell me they did this, whereas I would have thought this critical to any grower’s understanding of what was happening in 2010. “At the beginning, we had 2-to-1 malic-to-tartaric in Riesling, but by the time we finished harvesting they were roughly at parity.” He reports picking the best Riesling between around October 20-26, and scrupulously consigning any even the least bit botrytized berries to Auslese (if noble and from Morstein or Brunnenhauschen) or to oblivion, because they would have enhanced not just bitterness but also acidity in the dry wines. Importer: Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700