2018 Battenfeld Spanier Hohen Sulzen Riesling Trocken (1er Cru)
- $25.99 4-pack, $23.99 on a Case
- Molsheim's "Sister Wine"
- 100% Young Frauenberg Fruit (GG Site) and Frauenberg was Stunning in 2018
- Amazing Nose: Honey, Citrus, Lavender, Bath Salts
- Ginger and Orange Peel
- On a Bed of Huge Limestone Minerality
- Palate: Elegant, Terrific Acidity and Amazingly Deep Fruit
- White Chocolate, Caramel
- Energetic and Decadent
- Will age 10-15 Years
- Best Young Hohen-Sulzen Ever
I have reserved with a happy and sad face hopefully enough of the 2018 Battenfeld Spanier Hohen Sulzen Riesling Trocken (1er Cru) for as little as $25.99 on a 4-pack and special case pricing of $23.99 a bottle. This is an insane value. I recently offered Frauenberg 2018 which is maybe the best young GG I've ever had from Battenfeld Spanier and was thinking, boy I'd love to see how the Hohen-Sulzen is in 2018 as if it's usual "mini-me" version of Frauenberg, then it will easily be the best young version ever. This is even better than the 2013 which was our first white wine of the year.
This is a prodigious wine. Like how Les Forts de Latour is the second label of Chateau Latour but
most connoisseurs and people in the know understand it's also a brilliant wine on its own. That's the way I look at Hohen Sulzen. It is young vine Frauenberg but it really is a completely different wine but also does an impression of the great 2018 Frauenberg. It's a remarkable value more this year than any other. H.O. Spanier had added a snazzy 1er Cru to the label of Hohen-Sulzen and Mölsheim in 2015 and it looked awesome and helped consumers identify these wines as 1er Cru and of noteworthy quality. But the VDP quashed it immediately and in 16/17/18 they no longer have the 1er Cru on the label. Hohen-Sulzen is 100% young Frauenberg fruit which is their GG site. The wine is just bonkers in 18. It is vibrating on its own plane. I was tasting it and just could not believe how complete, how deep, how site specific (the limestone shines through), how perfumed, how complex, how delicate it was and especially how it tasted like an echo of the 2018 Frauenberg which is $59.99. This is $23.99 on the case and the value I cannot state strongly enough is extraordinary and will age very well.
Stunning nose. Vinous Crabtree and Evelyn. Floral, herbal, lavender, gorgeous honeysuckle. Lean and limey as well. Hint of vulcanized rubber I love so much. Apricot, peach skin. So insanely complex. A GG-like nose . After some air there is deeper honey, citrus, lavender, bath salts, ginger and orange peel on a bed of huge limestone minerality. It also has a wonderful funkiness from the sponti as well in 2018. I adore the nose of this wine. The soils of Frauenberg are the exact same stones as Clos de la Roche. Mindnumbingly complex aromas.
On the palate, the 18 Hohen Sulzen is so elegant, with terrific acidity and amazingly deep fruit. Complex and concentrated with terrific fruit skin purity and almost like a fruit leather. So mineral and precise and just teeming with energy and a playful, focused yet intense juiciness. The finish is a mile long and gives off citrus and minerals. Amazing texture and so well made. Balanced and super pure with the structure to age for 10+ years. As this airs it picks up a white chocolate, caramel hit in the mid palate which is to die for. The acidity is intense and very noteworthy as well as so well integrated. But thunderous. There is also a lovely funky hint and appealing sponti aromas that add so much. Wow. The wine literally made my head warm. Juicy yet serene and almost piqaunt from the acids. Amazing combo of intense and dramatic ripeness and ripping acids. You cannot find a better Riesling for $24. The fruit is prominent and if that is what you like there is no shortage of it here but counteracted by a rapier like acidity. It was very open, very succulent, and the most downright satisfying in a way in that you don't feel your missing anything but will gain a greater understanding as it ages. You feel you're getting all the wine has to offer but it will just phase differently as it ages not get so much better. Hohen-Sulzen has that quality and it is what makes it a list favorite.
Below is the Stuart Piggot 93 Point Review. for the 2017. 2018 is in a league of its own
"Quite funky from wild-yeast ferment on the nose, but there's also a lot of juicy-mirabelle character on the palate, combined with some pretty major tannins that won't be for everybody, but certainly excite us. Long. intense finish. From biodynamically grown grapes. Drink or hold." 93 points, Stuart Piggot 2017
2018 Battenfeld Spanier Hohen Sulzen Riesling Trocken 1er Cru - $27.99
($103.96 4-pack, $275.88 12-pack {$23.99}) (*Including tariff of $2.25)
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