The Wine that Gets Battenfeld-Spanier into the Conversation for the Best Dry White in Germany

I had an absolutely lovely morning meeting with H.O. Spanier and Carolin Kuhling-Gillot and a

wonderful walk through the vineyards this past trip to Germany last month. Many of you have been waiting patiently to dig your teeth into the 2012 Am Schwarzen Hergott Riesling Grosses Gewachs. That will be shipped with all of your other wines in April/May. When you taste it your eyes will pop out of your head. I believe that with the 2013 vintage, H.O. Spanier has catapulted himself into being considered one of the top 5 dry white winemakers in Germany.

Today I am proud to offer the 2013 Batenfeld-Spanier Frauenberg Grosses Gewachs for as little as $49.99 on the 4-pack. GG's of this quality level are normally priced at $80-100+ a bottle in the States - they are the best dry white white wines in Germany. Keller's Kirschspiel, Abtserde and Morstein, Rebholz's Kastanienbusch, Schafer-Frohlich's GG' (all of them), Burklin Wolf Kirchenstuck are amongst the wines I would say that the 2013 Frauenberg is on the same level qualitatively. This is almost a perfect dry Riesling. It takes over your mouth with waves of fruit yet is balanced by what I called in my notes, "an oyster." The finish is like the best, most saline, sweetest, balanced oyster you have ever had. It's so distinctive that I kept going back and back to it.  You want this in your mouth. The texture and vivid precise flavors are like clouds passing through on your palate due to the incredible finesse. With extreme care to the land and an expert attention to detail, H.O Spanier has created a monument to the 2013 German dry wine vintage. This is your one shot at this one. This is a unique distinct expression of Riesling that Riesling geeks will swoon over, but this is also a wine that even the budding wine geek can really get into. This wine is on the same qualitative level as the great white wine producers of the world - it's only because it's German and it's bought direct that it costs this little.   If you rarely spend $50 on a bottle, make it this bottle. This wine is allocated to longstanding German private clients and distributors - I was only able to secure a small parcel because Carolin and H.O. wanted to reward my customers for their purchases of the 2012 wines.

Personally, I prefer the Battenfeld-Spanier wines over the Keller wines. They are organic/biodynamic and both Carolin and H.O. are absolutely nuts about quality. From 2011 to 2012 and now to 2013 each vintage they have taken a huge qualitative leap. The 2012 Molsheim Riesling, which many of you have had, is a testament to the great work they do at all price points. But then again, with my model, these wines become silly values, and as I said before, and will continue to say, they are the crown of my German portfolio and I see them only getting better.

Frauenberg is a GG I wanted to offer last year, but I couldn't get any.  The mid to high end Rieslings are all snapped up as quickly as they are bottled. They are that good. There is a hedonistic quality and depth to the Battenfeld-Spanier wines a la Coche-Dury (H.O. is a burg freak and had a 1963 Romanee-Conti the night before) that is so inviting it is impossible to stop drinking these wines. With that hedonistic depth none of the minerality, elegance or freshness is sacrificed. The hedonistic fruit allied with that mineral spine and freshness makes them in a class of their own for me. They are just so complex and drinkable at the same time due to that insane juxtaposition between texture, mineral and fruit. I cannot emphasize enough how stunning these wines are texturally. Truly jaw-dropping.

Below is some background info from our first Battenfeld-Spanier offer last year.

Battenfield-Spanier is co-owned by Carolin Spanier-Gillot (who has her own fine estate, Kuhling-Gillot) with her husband H.O. Spanier. Since they are married, some of the winery functions have been combined, such as the gorgeous tasting room and marketing. Each winery cannot be be more different in terms of style. I tasted them side by side with Caroline's father going back and forth and could not believe the differences. A fascinating exercise in terroir.

They are located in the Rheinhessen in which are three main departments. Bingen, Nierstein and the rest is called the Wonnegau, which is the southern most part of the the Rheinhessen, near Worms. It has been much maligned in its history because most growers were about quantity (Liebfraumilch anybody?) and not quality till around 20 years ago. The wines of the Wonnegau and the wines of the Bingen/Nierstein area have about as much in common as a tiger does with a bear. Yes, they are both mammals, but that's where it ends. Yes, they make Riesling in the Bingen/Nierstein area and yes they make Riesling in the Wonnegau, but that is where the similarities end. The Rheinhessen is over 25,00 hectares and there are tons of different terroirs.

Located in Hohen-Suelzen, Battenfield-Spanier farm 24 hectares biodynamically and they have some of the most beautiful steep vineyards I have ever seen in the Rheinhessen. This means they want a healthy, living ecosystem within their vineyards. It is painstaking work but the results usually speak for themselves.  This is very rare to be biodynamic in Germany. Wittman and Clemens Bush are the only estates I can think of off the top of my head that farm biodynamically. There is around 80% spontaneous yeast fermentation and wines are aged in stainless steel or oak in the cellar.

2013 Battenfeld-Spanier Frauenberg Grosses Gewachs - $53.99 ($199.96 four pack pricing)