Müllen, Battenfeld-Spanier, Laible and Weltner are the big boys in our German portfolio. They have been around for a while, have made great wine and deserve their reputations. But I also want to offer wines from wineries that are not yet as famous. Partly because the wines taste different and I'm into the whole viva la difference thing (even in Germany) and partly because their relative lack of fame makes their wines ridiculous values given my direct from the winery model.
Andi Schneider of the great K.H. Schneider winery in Bad Sobernheim in the Nahe is one of my under the radar guys. He is not in the VDP and is overshadowed by the Frohlich/Donnhoff/Diel holy trinity in the Nahe. Both of those are situations that would lower one's vinous profile. But Andi has not let that stop him and keeps chugging along. Because I can sell these wines direct to the consumer after buying them from the winery the prices for his wines are just silly.
For the price of a typical village wine, I can offer you his best wine, the 2014 Andi Schneider "Domberg" for as little as $29.99 a bottle. This is a crime it is so inexpensive - compare at $60+ for wines of equivalent quality. This is Grosses Gewachs/Grand Cru quality from a site that Andi is making famous. It is from very poor soils which makes the vines struggle and produce better, more complex tasting fruit. Small grapes are harvested and they come in very compact bunches which gives the wines great aromas and serious structure.
Nose is all cut grass and smoke. There are hints of fresh fruit but the Domberg character shows through strong. That minerality, even with air, comes through more and more. The palate is an exercise in precision and there is much more clear-cut Riesling fruit apparent than on the nose. There is also beautiful minerality that really is the star of this wine. Good persistence and grip. Extraordinary balance. Complexity and pitter patter tannins. Salty. The length is very impressive and the mineral persistence makes this wine just so special. This is not a fruit bomb Riesling but lithe, lacey, expressive and sparse. In a word wonderful and in another word - - - LIMITED.
Up next I have THE wine that sells out quicker than any of Andi's wines, the Andi Schneider 2015 Sauvignon Blanc Trocken for as little as $20.99 on a 4-pack. Sauvignon Blanc is a big deal in Germany. It is typically the first wine to sell out at a winery and sometimes it can be more expensive than fantastic village Rieslings. Having said that all of it is not successful and definitely falls into the 95-5 rule of appreciating anything. 95% of it is not worth your time, while 5% is and that 5% can take a lifetime to appreciate and explore. For German Sauvignon Blanc it is more like 99%/1% for now. I've tasted Sauvignon Blanc across many regions in Germany and by far, for me, the most successful region is the Nahe. There is some promising stuff from Franken but the Nahe is the home of German Sauvignon Blanc.
Sauvignon Blanc can be a very polarizing grape so I can start by telling you what this wine is not to get that out of the way.
It is not offensive.
It is not cat piss, gooseberry or really that much if any fruit aromatically (yay!). Typical Sauvignon Blanc from CA, NZ has aromas that are like 4-dimensional obnoxiousness. If they could aromatize the Kardashian family it would be New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.
It is not overly fruited.
It is not wooded.
It is not innocuous.
It is not low in acid.
Now to the good part. What is this wine and why is it so good? It is great because it lets the terroir shine through. The most successful German Sauvignon Blancs should have a breakdown of 85% terroir aromas and taste and 15% varietal aromas and taste. Too much Sauvignon Blanc that makes you remember with every sip that you are tasting Sauvignon Blanc is never a good thing. If the Germans put their mind to something they will master it. They made great sweet Riesling and now they are make great dry Riesling. The style here at Schneider is one that is dripping in terroir and in some cases you need a powerful atomic microscope to find the Sauvignon Blanc character. That is a very good thing. Andi's was by far the best I have tasted and it has the terroir of Bad Sobernheim in this wine like a rainbow in a prism. It is so there. So precise. The wine is all about minerality and terroir. It is present in the aromas, the taste, the structure. Everything. There are some hints of grassiness that let you know the Sauvignon Blanc is the grape. The purity is astonishing and there is freshness and persistence that linger and linger. So much finesse and mineral sap. The elegance and class is what impressed me the most. I honestly would rather drink this than any $25 dollar Sancerre and I have a soft spot for Sancerre. Terrific wine and maybe the best Sauvignon Blanc value in a style you did not know existed until you read this e-mail.
No comments:
Post a Comment