The Most Popular Grosses Gewachs I Sell - Battenfeld's Brilliantly Complex and Elegant Frauenberg

2016 Rheinhessen Rieslings Are Incredibly Refined, Graceful and Drinking Very Well Now

Frauenberg

 - Remarkable Aromatic Complexity

 - Balanced with Controlled Depth on the Palate - Almost Alive

 - One of the Great Dry Whites of Germany

"Prime" (Used to be called Prime)

 - One of the Only Entry Level German Wines I Sell

 - Tastes Like a Mid Tier Wine with Great Fruit and Complexity

 - Stunning Value  for a Great Wine from a Top Producer

Case Pricing on Both Wines as Both Can Age a Decade or More

Battenfeld Spanier is the most popular German winery that I sell and for a good reason.  HO

Spanier has the magic touch and everything he makes is simply stunningly well made and delicious from the least expensive wine to the top of the list.  He is  easily one of the top 5 makers of dry white wine in Germany and located in the top  region for dry white wine, the Rheinhessen.  If you are not assembling verticals of Frauenberg, you should be.

2016 Rheinhessen Vintage Note:

The 16 vintage in the Rheinhessen for Riesling is vastly different than 15. 15 is power and acid while 16 has a skoche lower acid, which means the acidity levels are at a normal level as 15 was very very high acidity. Some 15s were also opened to compare and it was fascinating. The level of quality here is just off the charts. Based on my tasting I think the young 16s are in a better place currently than the 15s. There seems to be a sense of refinement in '16 that is one of the hallmarks of the vintage. Not as powerful as the 15s but there is a certain sense of density and grace. The wines are drop dead gorgeous.  The Battenfeld 16s are works of art and I'd be happy to have a boatload of 15 and 16 in my cellar. The 16s everyone has told me will age longer than the 15s. Time will tell. 

Today I am offering the most popular Grosses Gewachs I sell, that is the 2016 Battenfeld-Spanier Frauenberg Grosses Gewachs for $49.99 a bottle on a 4-pack. The nose has apricot, peach skins, ginger, a hint of honey, herbs, salinity, and white flowers. Always changing and so complex. Within 15 minutes it was a completely different wine. The complexity is off the charts.  Where Am Schwarzen en Hergott is powerful, this wine, while not bashful, is so harmonic and balanced, it almost boggles the mind.   It takes over your mouth with waves of fruit yet is balanced by what I called in my notes, "an oyster." Riesling on limestone gives a very unique minerality not seen in other areas of Germany with more slate or sandstone. It is brighter and more powerful. That is the vibrating minerality that is so ever present in this wine. It is ridiculously complex. 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. 

This is the Fass 4-3-1 plan in that one should kill one in its youth and then age the remaining 3. I love drinking GGs in their vigorous youth as it's thrill a minute drinking but also when they are old as they become more contemplative. The 2012 is beginning to drink beautifully as well as the 2013. Now onto the '16 which next to the '15 are my two favorite vintages of Frauenberg. The nose is absolutely drop dead and this wine was served to me after the Hergott as at Battenfeld they believe that Frauenberg is their best wine. I'd have to agree as Frauenberg has separated itself from the pack in recent years. This will age for a decade or two. I will offer a special case price of $47.99 a bottle. Prices have gone up but to keep my prices of previous vintages the same or similar I've cut my margins. 

Up next is just the most special value wine I sell in Germany. Because of my model I sell mainly Ortsweine quality which is the equivalent of Burgundy 1er Crus. I don't sell Gutsweine which is like Bourgogne Blanc/HCDN/HCDB. But the only Gutsweine I sell is from Battenfeld Spanier and that's like saying the only Bourgogne Blanc I sell is from Roulout. Or Arnaud Enter. Those are not normal Bourgogne Blancs just as the 2016 Battenfeld Spanier Riesling (EX-Prime, it used to be called Prime) is not your normal Gutsweine. Today, the Battenfeld Spanier "Prime" Riesling can be had for $19.99 a bottle on a 4-pack and $17.99 on a case. This is their "Gutsweine Reserve" as they also make one lower than this. I only offer case prices on wines I think are particularly great values and that can age. This wine has what all the other estate wines I don't offer has, it has fruit. Most of these have an intense mineral drive and no fruit and I believe they are good wines but only for geeks, even though they are cheap. Not only does it have glorious and refined fruit but also length, persistence and a sense of refinement. The 2016 EX-Prime on the other hand is not even a normal Gutsweine in that Battenfeld Spanier makes one below this. Think of this like the Roulot Bourgogne Blanc or the Dugat-Py Bourgogne Rouge Cuvee Halinard. Transcendent wines that are limited by their appellation names. The wine is so juicy, so persistent and has a sense of finesse and refinement and the perfect balance between minerals and fruit. The fruits is vivid apricot and ripe peach skins and really stays with you. It's so lovely and fresh with no shortage of minerals and fruit. It is as pure and as enjoyable as any wine I've tasted in Germany and represents outrageous value.

I always look forward to my tasting with HO Spanier and Carolin Kuhling-Gillot every year but due to circumstances beyond my control, I couldn't make it this year. But lo an behold they have an event space/restaurant/wine bar right next to where I was staying and was in luck as Carolin's father was there so I rushed over and tasted all the 16s with him.  He's a wonderful man and had the vision to acquire some of the best plots in the Rheinhessen when most people thought that the region was only capable of making cheap plonk.   

2016 Battenfeld Spanier Frauenberg Riesling Grosses Gewachs - $52.99 ($199.96 4-pack, $575.88 12 bottle case) (LIMITED)

2016 Battenfeld Spanier Prime Riesling - $21.99 
($79.96 4-pack, $215.88 12 bottle case) (LIMITED)