I have been working with Battenfeld Spanier now for 5 vintages. I started with them with the beautiful 2012 vintage. Now today I offer the first 2016 Grosses Gewachs and it seemed like a good time to reflect. Each vintage I have worked with them has been ridiculously special for its own reason. But one thing is that now vs. when I started with them, they are firmly in the conversation as the top estate in the Germany. H.O. is getting better and better as a winemaker and is exhibiting a new level of mastery that was not there with the earlier vintages. With 15 and 16 there is more precision, refinement, finesse and even more of a rock/soil imprint. I think that as good as they were previously, the Battenfeld Spanier wines have taken a significant step forward with 15 and now with 16. While 15 is just big, huge everything with beautiful explosive fruit/minerals acid and site character, 16 is just another step forward in terms of precision. Every flavor, every nuance is just so clear on the palate. It's like the jump from 720 to 1080 pixels. The terroir transparency of the 2016s combined with H.O's continued progress as a world class winemaker has yielded a brilliant set of 16s. 14 white burgs is the closest thing I can compare these to. One other thing to note is the fame of Battenfeld Spanier is at an all time high and the wines are becoming more and more allocated so order quickly as we are fighting against the very smart and very well educated German market. Oh, and for those of you who do not know, Martin Zweick is the founder of the Berlin Cup and has tasted as much if not more German wine than anyone in the world. He's introduced us to several of our top producers.
Today I'm thrilled to offer the first GG I offer every year, and the finest renditions yet, the 2016 Battenfeld Spanier Am Schwarzen Hergott Riesling Grosses Gewachs for as little as $49.99 on a 4-pack (and a special case price of $47.99 because I think that this will age incredibly well). For me, this is the one GG of Battenfeld Spanier that demands age. The 2012 for example is in a great place now. But it's a bruiser and needs 3-4 years minimum to work itself out. But when it does work itself out this is for me the best GG they make. The Hergott, this is on some Montrachet level juju. 2016 is a vintage with terrific fruit definition and forceful present transparent minerality and friendly terrific acids. But combine that with Hergott's "Wall of Flavor" and you have a profound bottle of dry Riesling. Make no mistake, the power, balance and concentration in this wine are equal to anything you will get in white Burgundy.
The nose has a touch of those sponti aromas from wild yeasts and beguiling, insanely complex minerality. It is so limestone and mineral you can't believe it. Your palate is assaulted by waves of fruit, minerality and acidity. It changes constantly in the glass. Balance, purity, concentration, killer acids (2016 acids remind me of '14) a wealth of fruit and huge sicko twisted awesome, vivid and distinct minerality. Also the depth and concentration on this wine is incomparable. The wine is pure art in 2016 and has intense emotional wallop as well as flavor impact and intensity. Clocking in at 8.2 grams per liter of acids this is terrifically fresh and juicy like you would not believe.
The elegance and finesse of this wine are Grand Cru all the way. It is so wonderfully balanced but still has incredible tension. The Hergott exhibits some of the best tension of any GG I have ever had. That is the balance between fruit and acid. It has elegance and finesse that the GG name suggests and the 16 has a juicy fabulous structure. We are talking a 45 second finish. This is limited and will be allocated.
Up next I've got something super special. Like really special. Something I never thought I'd be able to offer as I didn't know it even existed. But H.O. has reached into the cellar and released some 2013 Moelsheim Riesling Trocken for $32.99 a bottle on a 4-pack and a special case price of $29.99 a bottle. Perfectly stored at the winery since release I have a small parcel of this and I am so thankful to have it as all mine is gone as well. It is a gorgeous wine and is all young vine fruit from Am Schwarzen Hergott. This is one of their two 1er crus which as of 2015 is how it is labeled. 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. This is what every 1er Cru 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 was 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 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.
2016 Battenfeld Spanier Am Schwarzen En Hergott Riesling
Grosses Gewachs - $52.99 ($199.96 4-pack, $575.88 12 bottle case)
2013 Battenfeld Spanier Moelshiem Riesling Trocken - $34.99
($131.96 4-pack, $359.88 12 bottle case)
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