Inheriting a proud tradition
Oct 16 2009 by Helen Savage, The Journal
But as much as she enjoys drier styles of German wine, Annegret also feels that her sweeter styles are very special too. They have an exquisite, elegant balance between sweetness and acidity. “You cannot describe that balance unless you taste it,” she told me. And she’s absolutely right. It’s brilliantly illustrated by her Wiltinger Gottesfuss Riesling Spätlese 2001, which is complex and spicy, in an incredibly refined way and has a lingering mineral softness to match its still crisply citrus acidity.
She was delighted to be able to show an older Riesling. “Most people don’t know how well Riesling ages,” she observes. Back home, her estate is famous for its guarantee of reimbursing customers if their wines fail to age for 10 years.
Like many of her compatriots, Annegret worries that the complexity of German wine labels might prove confusing and off-putting to clients abroad. And she is firmly in the camp of those who would like to replace the old German obsession with making wines as sweet as possible, irrespective of how good they actually taste.
“In Germany,” she says, “we always talk about sugar levels, but I’m fed up with it. Vintage is so much more important.” And so is site. The great thing about her wines, especially those at Kabinett and Spätlese level, is that they show off the tiny fascinating differences of what the French call terroir – that unique expression of the characteristics of a single place, its soils, orientation to the sun, angle of slope and so on.
But although Annegret is keen to see the re-classification of German vineyards along lines parallel to France’s recognition of Grands Crus (the greatest sites) she does not wish to abandon traditional terms that describe a wine style like Kabinett, Spätlese and Auslese.
“We need to make Kabinetts that show lightness; a Spätlese should be made from healthy over-ripe grapes and Auslese should be from grapes with botrytis.” (When botrytis cinerea – ‘noble rot’ occurs, once the grapes are already fully ripe, it enhances their flavour by concentrating their sugars and even their acid levels).
Climate change has favoured the Mosel. The grapes ripen more fully that they often did and Annegret thinks that 2009 might turn out to be another “super year”.
If you want to try something really special get on to Michael Jobling and try them; and while you’re on, ask him to put pressure on Annegret’s UK agents to import a few of her superb dry wines too.
Wine of the week
KASELER Nies’chen Riesling Kabinett 2006, Von Kesselstatt Michael Jobling £15.07 (0191) 378-4554 or www.michaeljoblingwines.com.
Pale gold, with a spicy, mineral smell, and a flavour that begins sweet, then is balanced by delicious lemony acidity and is rounded off by a wonderful lingering spiciness. A superb effort. Try it with crab.
Wine extras
IF you’re feeling flush, I can warmly recommend two more stunning wines from Von Kesselstatt courtesy of Michael Jobling: Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Riesling Spätlese 2006 is ripe and honeyed, sweet and mouth-filling, with an acidity that’s more orangey than lemon (£19.03). Scharzhofberger Riesling Auslese 2004 combines sensual sweetness with minerality and that same almost orange acidity. £29.61 – and worth it.
For the rest of us, I’m happy to recommend a decent pair from Chile on offer at Morrisons, both at £4.49: Las Moras Sauvignon Blanc 2008 is a dry white with lemon and peach, and a tropical taste. Las Moras Shiraz 2008 is my favourite of the two: full of spicy, juicy black fruit. It’s fine value.
