2009 Saar Riesling

Very pretty developed nose of Riesling in its prime. Quite soft but not flabby. Great balance. A dry Riesling that covers all the bases. Confident and long. Already celebrated as a wine of the week here. (JR)

The van Volxem 2009 Riesling Saar – from contract fruit and older vines than the Schiefer bottling, and an estate-typical example of sweetness so subtly-integrated that the wine can be considered dry – offers a sense of lift; satiny refinement of texture; and clover and apple blossom floral dimension that go beyond the Schiefer bottling. The purity of apple fruit here is also admirable, although the less-expensive sibling displays a bit more diversity of anything one could call "mineral character." While its author's expectations of age-ability are greater – and indeed, he professes special pride in this particular 2009 bottling – I would be tentatively inclined to plan on enjoying this over the next 2-3 years. Roman Niewodniczanski harvested off and on through the sporadic rain that hit the lower Saar in early November, but he reports that while grapes picked later looked less good, their aromas and flavors proved superior. He and cellarmaster Dominik Volk have turned out another collection of Rieslings dry-ish (but seldom legally trocken and never labeled as such) and striking in their alliance of leesy richness and amplitude with elegance and detail; a style not without controversy, but one Niewodniczanski is convinced reflects that which prevailed for the first two thirds of the 20th century, including its first decade, when the price of Saar Riesling from a top site exceeded that of a Bordeaux First Growth. "With a couple of exceptions," he notes with obvious pride, "my 2009s stayed under 12% in alcohol." Some of these were bottled just before summer and the top wines at the end of summer, a couple of weeks before my September visit. (For more on Niewodniczanski’s wine style, ambitions and methods, consult earlier reports, notably that in issue 163.) Importers include Ewald Moseler Selections, Portland OR tel. 888 274 4312 and Acid Inc Selections, New York, NY; tel. (817) 687 4848

Wonderfully well balanced and exciting; I could happily drink this for lunch today! Great nerve but lots of ripe fruit on the front palate though it finishes bone dry. Great white wine by any measure even if there is no amazing finish. (JR)