I am happy to offer the 2013 Battenfeld-Spanier "Molsheim" Riesling today for as little as $27.49 a 4-pack and $26.99 a six pack. I just looked at my notes for the 2013 Battenfeld-Spanier "Molsheim" Riesling and it says "Just yes. Riesling Perfection." I can expand on that but not by so much. Certain wineries in the world, once you taste the wines give you a zen and a calmness to everything once you taste them. Battenfeld-Spanier is one of those wineries. The wine has no flaws at all. Perfect balance, heavenly texture, opulent tropical fruits that are perfectly ripe and not even close to being overripe. The acidity in the 2013 just keeps the wine so present on the palate. The balance of this wine is out of this world. The finish keeps pumping fruit on a bed of minerality that lasts and lasts. It is just perfect wine.
However much of this wine you buy, you will regret not buying more. It's the wine in your cellar that will be gone in 6 months. Why? Because it's so delicious that it's the wine that you will go to until you realize that it's all gone. Also, it's so affordable for a world class wine that you won't feel any guilt in drinking it.
In the regular 3-tier system I would have no qualms with people selling this wine for $50. The quality is there tenfold but because of what I do I can offer it at $26.99 and you should all leap on this opportunity. Once this offer closes this wine is gone as it very quickly sells out in Germany.
Since 2008 H.O. Spanier has separated himself from the pack, and in this taster's opinion H.O. Spanier is on the wine making level of the great Klaus-Peter Keller. Stylistically they are different but qualitatively they are equal. The style at Battenfeld-Spanier as it is currently is waves and waves of opulent fruit with a texture that is unlike anything I have ever experienced in fine German Riesling on a bed of super intense minerality. The price went up a skoche but qualitatively this is still hitting way way above its average. I am choosing a 6-pack pricing because I saw so many comments on social media and in e-mails to me that they should have bought more (me included!). Now is your chance. The 2013 vintage has higher acidity than 2012 but H.O. has taken a huge leap between '12 and '13 as a winemaker as well. He has just gotten better. I don't know how or why but he has. Like the leap a baseball player makes from really hot prospect to an established major league star.
So why should you buy this wine?
Battenfeld Spanier is the Crown Jewel of my German Riesling portfolio and a top 5 wine estate in Germany
You are saving nearly 30% of the retail price, which would be $45-$55 if Battenfeld-Spanier went through the 3-tier system
You are getting a baby-GG from one of the top, if not the top, winemakers in Germany.
Below is some more history from the 2012 Molsheim e-mail.
I can confidently say that Battenfield-Spanier is, by far, the best Riesling estate in Germany that is not exported to America. To be honest, I am in shock and utter dismay that Riesling lovers have not, up until this point, been able to taste these absolutely brilliant wines.
But I cannot focus on the past. The present is now, and as moon beam people like to say, a gift, but I truly feel that as I introduce you to wines of Battenfield-Spanier, I am sharing a gift with you.
I've been dreaming of offering an elite German wine for this price for years but could never do so because my cost in traditional retail stores was $25 and up. I've always wanted to sell a wine of this quality at this price to allow everyone to try the brilliance that is elite dry German Riesling; this is the wine I've been dreaming of selling.
This is what every village Riesling in Germany should strive to be. Besides slate, Riesling also has an affinity with limestone and I cannot think of a better example than this. Perfect tension between fruit, minerality and acid. And, oh what acids. This is the first vintage since 2008 where I really feel the acids on my palate. So zingy, salty and tangy. So tense. Amazingly pure citrus fruits that are more on the pith side than the fleshy fruit side. The Rheinhessen is hotter than the Mosel so there is a some tropical fruit expression as well.
The wine is so clean you cannot believe it. This is a powerful and substantial wine that can offer stunning mineral complexity to those who look for it, but also has fantastic fruit expression for those not into Talmudic discussions of wines. This is like drinking 1er Cru Chablis from an elite producer from a classic year like 2002 or 2000.
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.
These are uncompromising wines that want to be drunk. They are also delicious. And I mean really delicious. There is a great quote from the Battenfield-Spanier website that sums up the style, better than I ever could, what makes these wines special. "My wines are sensuous but aloof. They reveal depth when one takes time for them." Sounds like me!
A tiny bit of a rant now. Keller makes terrific wines. Keller (estate that an overwhelming number of American German wine lovers believe is the best producer of dry Riesling on Earth and has no peers) is not the be all and end all of the Rheinhessen, and anyone who says it is of course entitled to their opinion, but at the end of the day, we are in minute one of a long story that the Rheinhessen has just begun to tell. This story is 3, maybe 4, or maybe 10 hours long. No one knows, but the Rheinhessen is a beautiful region with many wines that are worthy and it is only just beginning to realize its potential now. Not just Keller. I know Klaus-Peter Keller and I bet all the sneakers in my collection that he would agree with me. Who just drinks DRC without exalting Roumier, de Vogue, Rousseau and Dujac? Not many people I know. Burgundy and Germany are the most similar wine regions in the world, yet German wine drinkers in America, for some reason are not as open to the vinous gifts Germany has to offer, but will trip over themselves to overpay for the next great thing in Burgundy. Okay, rant over.
2013 Battenfeld-Spanier Molsheim Riesling - $29.99
($109.96 4-pack/$161.94 6-pack)
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