Do Not Discount the Brilliance of Youth: Mozart's Symphony and Young Vines Frauenberg (Hohen Sulzen)

 The Brilliance of Youth

 - Mozart Wrote the 6th When He Was 11.

 - A Stunningly Beautiful Piece of Music

 - Hohen Sulzen Is Young Vines from the GG Frauenberg Vineyard

 - From the Genius of HO Spanier

 - With Vine Age, the Wines Gain in Complexity But This, Like the 6th, Is a Briliant Work

2020 Vintage

 - Incredible Growing Conditions

 - So Far from My Tastings, the Quality Is Off the Charts

 - Classic Vintage. Like 2014/2004.

 - Believe My Hype

2020 Battenfeld Spanier Hohen Sulzen Riesling Trocken

 - Young Vines 1er Cru from Their Top Grand Cru Vineyard

 - The 2013 and 2019 White Wine of the Year - This Is Better

 - An Iconic Fass Selections Wine

 - Their Top Wine Is $215 - This Is Made with the Same Care

 - Like Buying Leroy Bourgogne Blanc

 - Crushed Candied Rock Candy

 - Palate: Super Pure and Concentrated

 - Slathered by Minerals. 

 - Tangerine, Lime

 - Complex and Concentrated

 - Elegant, Harmonious, Lifting

 - Awesome Tangy Citrus and Apricot on Day 2

 - Fresh Ocean, Salt

 - Peach and Apricot Fruit

 - Easily a 10-15 Year Wine

 - A Stunning Value for $27.99 on a Case

Mozart's 6th Symphony and the Brilliance of Youth

Without a doubt, one of the greatest products of our species was the brilliant mind of Mozart. He wrote his first symphony at 5. He went on to write 40 others before his untimely death at the too early age of 35. His last work was the haunting Requiem Mass.

I've been listening to some of his early works of late and today, I wanted to focus on his 6th
symphony. He was only 11 when he wrote it. It is classically structured but it has all of the filigree that made him famous. The rapid violin notes. The lifting harmonies. The subtle, intoxicating crescendoes. It's only around 11 minutes long (his final 41st Symphony, the Jupiter, is 33 minutes) but its a wonderful ride. You can feel the subtle touch of genius in this work.

The Wine

It would be too easy to dismiss today's wine as merely young vine Frauenberg. After all, for $60, you can buy the older brother. Which, like the Jupiter, is infinitely more complex. But both wines are made by the same winemaker. And both are brilliant. You see the bones of the Frauenberg in this wine. The HO Spanier Mineral spine seamlessly intertwined with the fruit. Again - thee subtle touch of genius.

Today’s wine is the 2020 Battenfeld Spanier Hohen Sulzen Riesling Trocken. This is their 1er Cru wine and is made from young vine Frauenberg in 2020. It is $29.99 on a 4-pack and $27.99 on a case. It's wines like this which are why I opened this company. It was to get world class Spatlese Trocken into people's hands for $25-$35. German Riesling is a gift and and wines like this are why. It's one of those wines you pop and pour and you're just like this is perfect. That is this wine. It's so perfect. It's the best young Hohen-Sulzen I've ever had and surpasses the 2018 which was our white wine of the year. It has lightness and depth juxtaposed so brilliantly that you can't believe how perfect it is. It is an ode to joy wine. That's what German Riesling does best. It combines a cerebral quality with a deliciousness factor that cannot be reproduced anywhere. This wine exemplifies that. 

On the nose, confectionary aromas that are just beyond. Wet rocks. Citrus. So beautiful. Crushed candied rock candy. Superb aromas with kumquats, cotton candy, citrus, even more complex citrus and that tell tale limestone minerality. Really gorgeous penetrating minerality. So pure and deep. What a nose. I love love this wine. The 2013 was our first ever white wine of the year and then it repeated that with the 2019. The vivid citrus character is really just gorgeous here. This is one of those wines that is worth the price just to smell it. Simply gorgeous. You are getting the aromatic elegance of a wine created by a winemaker that sells some of the most expensive wines in Germany ($215 for a bottle of their top wine from their sister winery).

Amazing palate. Super slathered by minerals. Tangerine. Lime. Super pure and concentrated. Elegant. Not sugary but spun sugary. Absurd mineralIty. Complex and concentrated. Insane drinkability. A masterclass in elegance and skeletal structure. So clean, so mineral. Just washes your palate with minerals. Terrific inner mouth citrus aromas and also the tell tale vanilla extract and nougat flavors. Terrific energy and depth but what this really is about is the top, top 1% finesse. A remarkable 1er Cru from Battenfeld Spanier. As it airs it gets sappier and juicier. But it retains this just monster finesse. Almost a 9.5. The finish is so clean and so pure. This is a stunning wine and unlike any Hohen Sulzen I’ve ever had. 

Delicious does not do this this justice but it also makes you think. The airiness is unreal. So pure. So clean. So juicy. Harmonious. Best Hohen-Sulzen ever. Elegant and harmonious. Long. Stunning. So pure. Hits every nook and cranny and stays there. The combo of density and lightness is remarkable for a young Hohen-Sulzen. Also please drink these wines through day 2. It has awesome tangy citrus and apricot on day 2. Superb minerals. Airy. Fresh ocean, salt. Palate is so lean, so tense and so juicy but also dense and serene with peach and apricot fruit. Amazing precision. Amazing texture, balance and startling purity. So deep. So easy to drink yet so complex. Fantastic wine. Amazingly long finish. Drink now and through 2033. 

2020 Battenfeld Spanier Hohen Sulzen Riesling Trocken - $31.99

($119.96 4-Pack, $335.88 12 bottle case {$27.99})