2008 Brunnenhauschen Riesling Grosses Gewachs

From one tiny parcel of old vines, Wittmann’s 2008 Westhofener Brunnenhauschen Riesling Grosses Gewachs will be supplemented in time by a hectare he has just purchased and replanted. Mirabelle distillate, pineapple, apple blossom, and herbal essences on the nose lead into a palate of striking delicacy, brightness, and lift, offering considerable sheer refreshment by the standards of Wittmann Grosse Gewachse. The sense of high-toned, distilled inner-mouth essences adds to the sensation of an ethereal beverage. Quinine and apple pip bitterness nonetheless have the last word in the wine’s long finish. This will be really intriguing to follow, for the few who can get their hands on some of its several hundred bottles. On the one hand, relates Philipp Wittmann (who harvested the second half of October) I was very happy that I had such stable musts, so that not much could go wrong. But on the other hand, the acids in the Riesling musts were between nine and ten grams. You had to let the wines ferment slowly, and the acids harmonized nicely assisted by considerable tartrate precipitation, it should be noted. The wines needed longer on the lees, continues Wittmann, and were bottled four weeks later than usual. That none of this year’s Grosse Gewachse reached 13% alcohol, I perceived as a plus, since alcohol has been a source of brusqueness or roughness here on occasion. I’m personally a real fan of filigree, fine texture, remarks Wittmann, but on the other hand, I delight in a fat texture on the palate, and that certainly brings with it a certain youthful hardness phenolically-speaking. (Morstein, he thinks, is especially capable of uniting these virtues.) I continue to find Wittmann’s dry Rieslings impressively concentrated. But in my perception, they usually just won’t flex, give, or in the end stoop to genuinely refreshing, let alone to lightening-up and spreading delight, not even in this vintage for which levity is a byword. I find that situation incongruous since Wittmann’s own personality (like that of his father) is so warm and affable. On the other hand, I find his approach works brilliantly with Silvaner, a grape with an inherent tendency to become flabby and that needs not only tough love in the vineyard but structure and rectitude in the cellar. Then again, mine is presumably a minority opinion – certainly from a typical German standpoint, because Wittmann’s Rieslings are nowadays in huge demand there, with prices to match. Importer: Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700

As fresh as a mountain spring with generous aromas of peach and apricot stopping just short of exotic, but always maintaining that attractive fresh edge; intense and concentrated on the palate with mouthwatering acidity to boot; long, complex and oh so mineral! Maybe I'm a philistine, maybe I'm a purist, I would NEVER drink this with food! (MS)

Smoky nose. Some dried herbs and then a really flirtatious kick up of heels on the finish. Marked acidity and minerality but no shortage of body and guts. Finishes rather chalky. (JR)