German Catalog 2006 USE THIS ONE.qxp - Michael Skurnik Wines

NAHE WINES
112
Meddersheimer Rheingrafenberg. (It is fine with me if
you want simply to call it “the Grafenberg spot”.)
This is a steep southward hillside crawling off into
two lateral valleys.
The soil is based on
sandy loam but, this
being after all the
Nahe, it ends up
being a complicated
melange of various
weathered products,
slate, sandstone and
Rheingrafenberg Rock at Hexamer
other conglomerates
among them. The
first time I sniffed a Hexamer from this site I was immediately
delighted: a true terroir wine. In fact we took a PIC-
TURE of a big ol’ rock from the Rheingrafenberg Harald
keeps in his tasting room. It looks like something the Mars
rover might have found. If you’re reading the on-line version
of this text the color shot should be nearby.
These wines have been consistently impressive for
their dicht (which translates as “density”), delineation,
and charm. Think about it. How many wines exhibit all
three qualities? Density usually precludes charm.
Delineation often presupposes a certain transparent
lightness. These are rare and wonderful wines,
sybarites; I’m not looking to add estates to this portfolio
in my advancing decrepitude unless they offer irresistible
deliciousness.
Hexamer is emblematic of the best of cutting edge
thinking among quality-minded vintners. He’s a vineyardist
first, only thereafter a cellarmaster. “I can only
attempt to optimize in the cellar what I pull from the vineyard;
the quality of the grapes is decisive.” He often harvests
riper grapes from another site (Marbach) but the
wines of Rheingrafenberg are “more filigree and better-
hexamer at a glance:
en wines of terroir.
structured.” He handles as little as possible. Doesn’t
deacidify, doesn’t use dosage. The grapes are picked exclusively
by hand and fermented very cold (below 12 degrees
celsius) with cooling when necessary (“but we often pick
so late we bring naturally cold fruit — below 10 degrees
— back to the winery.”) Yields are controlled by pruning
(“We often end up with only six to eight bunches per
vine”). Most of the wines are whole-cluster pressed; “The
most filigree wines come from this method.” 95% of all
Rieslings are made in stainless steel, and only racked three
to six weeks after fermentation is complete. The wines are
bottled early to preserve their vigor.
All quite modern, yet Hexamer’s not what I’d call a
modernist. Rather, he seeks the most neutral cellar-environment
so as to preserve the complexities he pulls in
from the mountain. He’s also a fun guy to drink wine
with, and shows ceaseless curiosity and omnivorous glee
in all the world’s wines.
Acidity has been a theme here the past three vintages,
less for its actual extent and more for the way it
behaves; Hexamer’s wines are (if you like them) “brilliant”
and (if you don’t like them) “tart”. This was also
the case in the generally low-acid 2005s. Mind you, I
don’t actually know if the wines are high in acidity; they
just taste that way. In fact I only ever ask to see analyses
to confirm an impression or to have a starting point for
dosage blends. My favorite growers hardly look at all.
Dönnhoff told me last summer he never looks at analyses
once the grapes are in the press. “I’ll check during harvest
for Oechsle and acidity, but once the press is running
how can it possibly help me to know the figures? I can’t
do anything about them; all they do is cause me to worry
needlessly.” For better or worse — in his case, better —
he trusts his palate. And he’s influencing a young generation
who are blessed with his encouragement to trust
their wits and senses.
Sensational new discovery on the upper Nahe, a young
vintner doing everything right; handcrafted fruit-driv-
Anti-varietal in the best sense, the same way that
how the wines taste:
Condrieu isn’t merely viognier; the best from the
Rheingrafenberg are wines of deep site-character as rendered by riesling. Splendidly mineral
wines into which fruit of great charm is interwoven. Fresh, with exceptional purity.
GHX-023 2004 Meddersheimer Rheingrafenberg Riesling Kabinett
A delicate, intricately articulate Riesling with a keen curranty length; though it enters
with an almost soy-shiitae low note, it quickly shows a quince-rosewater high note; it
is a perfection of perhaps the most unique and precious facet of German Riesling; this
gossamer lightness and laser-etching of flavor, but with endless length.
SOS: 2 (between six and seventeen years)
GHX-029 2005 Meddersheimer Rheingrafenberg Riesling Kabinett
There’s very little of this, and we won’t begin selling it until the `04 is gone — probably
late Winter. It’s a no-quarter-given Riesling with a piercing flower and mineral fragrance;
one of his first-picked, with 93º, from the Eisendell parcel, which is “not one of
the best, but look at the ripeness!” It shows really zippy acids and a minty finish, like a
verbena infusion poured over smashed rocks. You know you want it!
SOS: 1 (6-23 years)