2008 Koehler-Ruprecht Kallstadter Saumagen Riesling Spätlese Trocken

While there was scarcely a difference in must weights between Philippi’s 2008 Kallstadter Saumagen Riesling Spatlese trocken and its Kabinett counterpart, we have here a very different personality. The nose is uncannily like that of really fine gueuze ale in its mixture of grain mealy, citric, fermentative, and animalistic, “funky” elements. Yellow plum, lemon, maize, wheat, chicken stock, and saline, alkaline mineral suggestions inform a mouth-filling, palate-saturating, yet buoyant and refreshing recitation. The finish provokes thought even as it satisfies thirst. Like certain great Chablis, this is one of those wines that causes you to wonder it could have come from grapes, or that might inspire a hard-bitten terroirist to insist “it’s not really Riesling, it’s Saumagen.” A question that intrigued me in tasting this was “How much better will a reserve bottling age than will this one?” which already displays what I think of as “R-rated” complexity. Certainly this will be worth holding for 12-15 years. For comments on the recent sale of this estate (the most important of which is Bernd Philippi’s insistence that “nothing will change”) and on other developments here, see my report in issue 185. The choice of Pradikat-designation (or of “Reserve” status) for his many dry Rieslings from the large Saumagen site, explains Philippi, was once again this year – as in many others – based on an assessment of phenolic ripeness (clues: are the grapes greener or deeper gold; how big and how numerous are they?) and ultimately on style, concentration, and perceived aging potential, rather than on must weight, since sugar levels in the grapes were relatively uniform. Philippi acquired the major vineyard holdings of his friend Walter Henninger – notably in the chalky Annaberg – after that estate was recently dissolved, so while he had been farming these parcels and making the wines for many years under Henninger’s label, beginning in 2008 they became Koehler Rupprecht wines. A new U.S. importer had not yet been selected as of press time.