2011 Weister-Kunstler - Enkircher Ellergrub Riesling Auslese

Weiser and Kunstler’s 2011 Enkircher Ellergrub Riesling Auslese – which, like the corresponding Steffensberg, amounted to all of around 200 liters – mingles quince and pear preserves with white raisin and candied citrus rinds in a confectionary and liqueur-like manner that also resembles its immediate sibling. But whereas saliva-inducing salinity strongly came to the aid of that corresponding Steffensberg, here the primary mineral manifestation is classic wet stone, impressive for its persistence alongside such sheer ripeness and sweetness, but not mitigating the effects of that sweetness, nor leading me to long for the next sip. Still, it’s early days for this elixir, which should be well worth following for 20-25 years. The “creative tension” of which I wrote in issue 192 between life- and business-partners Konstantin Weiser and Alexandra Kunstler appears to continue, with Weiser taking the lead in both advocating and shepherding into bottle strikingly low-alcohol and unabashedly sweet wines while Kunstler remains especially focused on dry ones. “All of our parcels had to be picked selectively this year,” notes Kunstler, “even those where we harvested Kabinett, because if nothing else there was botrytis to remove first.” As is frequently the case at this address, some wines in the present collection were awkwardly marked by yeasty and fermentative aromas when I tasted them at the end of last summer. I have not had opportunity to revisit these, but they may well be more expressive after their first year in bottle. Importers: Vom Boden Imports, New York, NY; info@vomboden.com; also, a Bill Mayer Age of Riesling Selection, imported by Valley View Wine Sales, Glen Ellen, CA; tel. (510) 549-2444