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

RHEINGAU WINES
148
I did, and liked what I saw. First opportunity, I was
making the scene in Oestrich. I want to pause a second to
draw attention to Leitz’s touching gesture of friendship,
both to me and to Andreas & Bernd. He brought us together,
and he’s still scouting around in the Rheingau for young
new growers still below the radar.
Oestrich seems to have gotten short shrift when the
1971 wine law re-drew the vineyard boundaries. The two
main sites are Doosberg and Lenchen, each among the
largest single-sites in the region and each embracing a
wide range of soils and exposures. The top of Doosberg
borders the Hallgartener Jungfer, while Lenchen touches
the Schönhell. Nearer the Rhine the wines are fruitier.
Oestrich seldom shows the nervy vigor of other
Rheingauers, and the keen finesse of spiciness is often
absent here. Oestrich is about fruit. Fruit is about pleasure.
Pleasure is about life.
Finely fruity wines in the modern idiom, with polish
spreitzer at a glance:
and class, at reasonable prices, from a young vintner
with many years of greatness in store.
how the wines taste:
Still, I’d like you to see what Spreitzers can do in
Hattenheim and Winkel (“Let’s Go To Winkel With
Spreitzer!” Now there’s a slogan one can work with.)
Read on . . .
In fact I keep urging Andreas, only half-jokingly, to
grab any available land in Grand Crus with nothing but
underachievers working them; this pretty much covers
all of Rauenthal, to cite but one melancholy example. To
be sure, Oestrichers can be delightful and in certain cases
remarkable, but no serious observer would place these
among the top sites in the Rheingau. All the more striking
what Spreitzers make from them. Yet when I’m having
trouble sleeping and I’ve replayed the entire 1986
World Series through in my mind, I’m likely to catalogue
all the great sites whose wines would blossom in
Spreitzer’s hands: Hölle, Mannberg, Siegelsberg . . .
Wülfen . . . Gehrn . . . Baiken . . . Rothenberg . . .
They’re polished and fruity and full of finesse. The modern
style of winemaking at its best.
GSP-037 2005 Oestricher Doosberg Riesling Kabinett
This is a superb value for those who want an alternative to the core-list Kabinett: a lissome,
piquant, flowery wine; cox-orange again, and plum-blossom; it is a slender highcheekboned
pretty wine, defined and intelligent, a wine you want and which grins
right back at you.
SOS: 2 (5-20 years)
GSP-038 2005 Oestricher Lenchen Riesling Kabinett ++
CORE-LIST WINE. And it is the KABINETT OF THE VINTAGE in this offering. Oh,
sing to me baby! A fragrance you want to bathe in; freesia, quince, pêche-de-vigne, and
the palate just showers a blessing over you; such juicy bursting fruit and such fine penetrating
mineral, leading to a saturating balsam-lime-wintergreen finish that goes on
for days. Vulgarism-alert ahead, but there is no better way to put it: this is a complete and
total fuck-me wine! (We will heartily approve if you order it by that name.)
SOS: 2 (6-23 years)
GSP-039 2005 Winkeler Jesuitengarten Riesling Spätlese
Sections of this rather generously-drawn vineyard are true Grand Crus, and Spreitzer’s
last few vintages have been splendid; this one very probably is too, except for a translucent
veil of sweetness at the moment: lavish purple aromas, grape-hyacinth and lavender
plus wintergreen and empire-apple; deeply embedded spice and mineral; made for
the long haul; apple lingers into the finish.
SOS: 3 (10-30 years)