2021 Dalsheimer Hubacker Grosses Gewachs

The first time they have been able to label this Oberer Hubacker, which is the original parcel of Hubacker that has been a monopoly in the Keller family for 100 years. First bottled by his great-great-grandfather Georg Keller III in 1921. The vineyard boundary was extended from 4 ha to 25 ha and renamed Hubacker in the vineyard reorganisation that accompanied the 1971 German wine law. Cask sample.  Deep, spicy and almost savoury. There’s an earthy mineral intensity that seems to be more about the soil than the fruit. But there’s still green fruits and white pepper and an underlying exotic intensity that increases in the glass, eventually becoming bright and zesty like perfumed clementines. As it opens, there’s a slight smoky/reductive note that balances all the fruit intensity and, with the precise, highly defined acid backbone, takes this to an incredibly long finish. Remarkable. So complex and chameleon-like in the glass. Perfect contrast of richness and freshness. (JH)