2009 Saarburger Rausch Diabas

Named for the igneous intrusions of diabase into the slate of the Rausch, the Zilliken's 2009 Saarburger Rausch Riesling Diabas represents the result of numerous selective pickings for unblemished, high-ripeness fruit. Its 12% alcohol and 15 grams of residual sugar result in a balance very different – though it still tastes dry – from that of the corresponding Grosses Gewachs. More importantly, there is a juicy and mouthwatering enticement to the acidity here ("the salivary glands can't fool themselves!" I tell the Zillikens with a grin) and a persistent sense of interplay among smoky crushed stone; peach and its kernel; winter pear with tart skin and piquant pips; grapefruit and its rind; nut oils and toasted grain. Lastly, there is a subtle sense of creaminess and an alluringly satiny patina here beside which the Grosses Gewachs – for which, one notes, a slightly lower price is being asked – appears resolutely adamant. I suspect that this versatile Riesling will perform well for at least a dozen years, and quite possibly more. Hanno and daughter Dorothee Zilliken have reorganized and renamed much of their wine portfolio to conform to the prevailing – or at least, the officially professed – and allegedly Burgundian three-tier model of the VDP, whereby, inter alia, names of "grand crus" (such as in this instance Rausch) appear only on the labels of highly selected wines, which this year include for the first time here a Grosses Gewachs. Put another way, fans of Zilliken wines who prefer – or can only afford – to purchase wines at the lower range of the Oechsle spectrum will henceforth be drinking considerable amounts of Saarburger Rausch that is no longer labeled as such. The overall share of legally trocken wine at this address has been considerably extended, and as the Zillikens pointed out, despite recession, their wines – including the least expensive among them – have never sold out more quickly than they did this year, one in which the family's relatively small volume of residually sweet wine approaches stellar qualities. The harvest here lasted the second half of October and Dorothee Zilliken reported being quite relieved to have finished in view of early November rains, though these did not deter – or perhaps didn't so greatly affect – many of her neighbors, who stretched things out. Hanno Zilliken opined that "after the middle of October" – with no foliage left on the vines – "no more assimilation was possible; and after the rain in November the sugars would have been washed out." In consequence – and in a departure from usual practice – the Zillikens left no grapes hanging for Eiswein. Importer: Rudi Wiest, Cellars International, Carlsbad, CA 800 596 9463