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

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40 subject: why riesling? A) Because if you grow it where it’s at home, Riesling comes out of the ground already perfect. Don’t need no face-lift, depilating, tummy-tucks or pancake-makeup. Not like some other grape variety we could name that rhymes with “hard-on-YAY” B) Because Riesling exists to make food taste better. Compare with adolescent narccisistic grape varieties that only want to draw attention to their adorable SELF. C) Because Riesling knows soil more intimately than any other grape, and because Riesling is more articulate than any other grape in conveying soil right into your palpitating palate. Go on, SOIL YOUR PALATE with Riesling. D) Because Riesling attracts the kinds of vintners who do NOT need to prove to you what throbbing hot-shots they are by how neatly they can diddle technology. With Riesling, nature RULES. In the cellar, less is more. E) Because Riesling is genuine, organically linked to the ground, whole in itself, resistant to fancy-pants machines, because it survives frost, because it ripens late in the Fall when everything is taut and crisp and golden, because Riesling wines are the afterglow of the contented world. F) Because YOU will be a deeper, happier person when you drink these wines. There’s no ego and no affect between them and you. They simply display their uncanny complexities in a manner so infectious you can’t HELP responding with your OWN complexity; suddenly your mindheart-soul expands and the world seems like a far more intricate and fascinating place than it was just moments before. G) Because, take it from me, a lifetime of Riesling drinking will make you a nicer person, a better-informed citizen, a finer lead guitarist, a better hitter with an 0-2 count, a MUCH better lover; you’ll balance your checkbook, avoid Jury duty, change the oil on your car every 3000 miles, never dawdle in the left lane, root for the home team and make bread from scratch. The real question isn’t “WHY Riesling”? It’s WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU WAITING FOR????
mosel-saar-ruwer The green bottles. The wines we love with a special tenderness, for the essence of spring-time which pours out with each piercing greeny splash. There are as many ways to love them as there are people who love them. But for me, as a merchant, there is only one way to buy them. I look for slate. I want to taste that soil, for it’s slate that gives the Mosel its signature, its somewhere-ness. There are other light and aromatic wines in the world from northern climates: the U.K., Luxembourg, even the Ahr, which is further north than the Mosel. But no other wine expresses this curious permutation of mineral and Riesling. Mosel wines can be rich, but flabbiness is simply out of character; softness has no place here. I want that malic, granny-apple fruitiness that manages to be so taut and exuberant, set in a binding of minerality you should detect with the first whiff. Mosel wine should never lounge around like a contented feline. It should run like a gazelle, taut and rippling and sinewy. The valley itself is spectacular but unforgiving; the very steepness of the vine-clad slopes suggest the precariousness of a vintner’s existence. The wines themselves, beneath their extroverted gaiety, have something quite rigid, unsentimental, as though of a floweressence distilled to a point of almost unbearable clarity. It is so easy to be charmed into euphoria by these wines that I forget how intricate and inscrutable they can be. Even the most rustic and uncomplicated vintners are Catholically devout servants of this particular mystery of nature. Recent vintages have shown the Mosel off, and its renown has increased markedly. But leave the bestknown sites and drive just a few miles and there are seismic shudders of a dubious future. However searching the wines may be, the work of producing them is sweaty and brusque. You know, until you actually see these vineyards, you cannot imagine—even the best pictures cannot convey —just how steep this ground is. Our forbears were stoically accustomed to a certain physical travail as a condition of being. But not us. Sometimes you will look up at little specks of people, pruning, binding, spraying, and you will wonder: “how do they keep from falling?” But I look for slate. I want to taste that soil, for it’s slate that gives the Mosel its signature, its somewhere-ness. even more you will wonder: “who in his right mind would do such work?” Who indeed! People who are willing to work the steep slopes are growing rarer—and older. Much casual vineyard labor in <strong>German</strong>y comes from Poland these days, but the steep slopes need experienced hands. Families undertake most of the work themselves, if they will. Many of the young are opting out. Many venerable names are either up for sale, have already been sold, or are floundering. Vineyard land is available everywhere, giving an anguishing dilemma to those who can afford it. One wants the irresistible bargain, but who will work the land? Recent vintages have shown the Mosel off, and its renown has increased markedly. For we are in the middle of a sea-change in the Mosel valley, the ramifications of which are starting to make themselves felt. Back in the mid-eighties a guy like me had his pick among literally dozens of interesting growers, who quietly and inconspicuously made honorable Mosel wines— which is to say fine Mosel wines. In the case of an estate such as Merkelbach, most of the wine was sold in bulk. Hans-Leo Christoffel and Willi Schaefer were simply below the radar. If one searched diligently enough, eventually one found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. But this generation is aging. In many cases their children have moved away to easier and more lucrative careers in the cities. That’s why so much good land is available. But what’s really shaking things up isn’t the ones who left, but the ones who remained. This isn’t easy work! You have to love it in your bones, and so the young generation of Mosel vintners has self-selected its most enterprising and conscientious members; if you’re a young guy making wine at all along the Mosel, you’re probably making excellent wine. You wouldn’t have chosen the life if you didn’t love wine and didn’t plan to excel. But two critical things have changed. First, the young person does not wish to work in obscurity. His only chance to prosper lies in spreading the word quickly and widely. So he sends his samples to all the necessary publications. In theory, his wines are noteworthy, he makes his 41
Page 1: terry theise estate selections Impo
Page 4 and 5: ii “Within every effort there has
Page 6 and 7: iv contents Theise Manifesto . . .
Page 8 and 9: vi LET US WRITE YOUR ORDER FOR YOU!
Page 10 and 11: 2 These things coincided with a dec
Page 12 and 13: 4 View of the Mosel. human care and
Page 14 and 15: 6 Continuing New Approach to Tastin
Page 16 and 17: 8 Making the Case For German Wines
Page 18 and 19: 10 I’m sure I didn’t convert th
Page 20 and 21: 12 Principles of Selection in this
Page 22 and 23: 14 Belgium, and they immediately ru
Page 24 and 25: 16 Core-List Wines The core-list, w
Page 26 and 27: 18 to know better) that the great d
Page 28 and 29: 20 How I Approach Wine, or Let Wine
Page 30 and 31: 22 time and lots of flavor. Due to
Page 32 and 33: 24 SHORT-LIST FOR ROCKHEADS: Dr Dei
Page 34 and 35: 26 “Antiques” 2001 has modestly
Page 36 and 37: 28 Ah but this isn’t P.C., you se
Page 38 and 39: 30 How German Wines Age To define a
Page 40 and 41: 32 Label Basics German labels are s
Page 42 and 43: 34 around until he gets fluent in t
Page 44 and 45: 36 Plusses and The Quest For Perfec
Page 46 and 47: 38 sommelier alert GSO-264 2005 Sel
Page 50 and 51: 42 Treking up the Erdener Treppchen
Page 52 and 53: MOSEL WINES 44 Other Regionals from
Page 54 and 55: MOSEL WINES 46 could do was sit the
Page 56 and 57: MOSEL WINES 48 A Look At The Vineya
Page 58 and 59: MOSEL WINES 50 THE SPÄTLESEN GSO-2
Page 60 and 61: MOSEL WINES 52 SCHTICKIES! GSO-281
Page 62 and 63: MOSEL WINES 54 Erstwhile cellar-mas
Page 64 and 65: MOSEL WINES 56 it’s confusing. Me
Page 66 and 67: MOSEL WINES 58 alfred merkelbach mo
Page 68 and 69: MOSEL WINES 60 GME-135 2005 Ürzige
Page 70 and 71: MOSEL WINES 62 joh. jos. christoffe
Page 72 and 73: MOSEL WINES 64 GJC-146 2005 Erdener
Page 74 and 75: MOSEL WINES 66 Sleek, feminine, ele
Page 76 and 77: MOSEL WINES 68 he elects not to.
Page 78 and 79: MOSEL WINES 70 a.j. adam mosel •
Page 80 and 81: MOSEL WINES 72 changing; enterprisi
Page 82 and 83: MOSEL WINES 74 reuscher-haart mosel
Page 84 and 85: MOSEL WINES 76 hoffmann-simon •Vi
Page 86 and 87: MOSEL WINES 78 weingut ansgar clüs
Page 88 and 89: 80 Does this self-evident truth rea
Page 90 and 91: MOSEL WINES 82 carl loewen mosel
Page 92 and 93: MOSEL WINES 84 carl schmitt-wagner
Page 94 and 95: MOSEL WINES 86 karlsmühle-geiben r
Page 96 and 97: 88 Is all taste equally valid? Sure
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90 mittelrhein wines In 1900 there
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MITTELRHEIN WINES 92 Bacharach, but
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MITTELRHEIN WINES 94 jost at a glan
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96 nahe wines It is a joy to labor
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NAHE WINES 98 dönnhoff nahe • ob
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NAHE WINES 100 vintage happens befo
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NAHE WINES 102 GDH-172 2005 Estate
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NAHE WINES 104 helmut mathern nahe
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106 the matter of “globalization
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NAHE WINES 108 jakob schneider nahe
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NAHE WINES 110 GJS-067 2005 Niederh
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NAHE WINES 112 Meddersheimer Rheing
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NAHE WINES 114 kruger-rumpf nahe
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NAHE WINES 116 GKF-099 2005 Scheure
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NAHE WINES 118 viti-and-viniculture
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NAHE WINES 120 THE AMAZING TRIO OF
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RHEINHESSEN WINES 122 j.u.h.a. stru
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RHEINHESSEN WINES 124 started to wo
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RHEINHESSEN WINES 126 THE PATERBERG
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RHEINHESSEN WINES 128 wagner-stempe
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RHEINHESSEN WINES 130 GWG-016 2005
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RHEINHESSEN WINES 132 weingut oekon
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RHEINHESSEN WINES 134 gernot gysler
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RHEINHESSEN WINES 136 christian-wil
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138 tasting versus drinking I once
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140 rheingau wines Recently Jancis
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RHEINGAU WINES 142 josef leitz rhei
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RHEINGAU WINES 144 Rüdesheim Viney
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RHEINGAU WINES 146 On August 4th, 2
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RHEINGAU WINES 148 I did, and liked
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150 why does place-specificity matt
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152 pfalz wines In the pretty walle
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PFALZ WINES 154 müller-catoir pfal
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PFALZ WINES 156 THE NOT-DRY WINES!
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PFALZ WINES 158 josef biffar pfalz
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160 scheurebe: what gives? Um, I ha
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PFALZ WINES 162 board; these were t
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PFALZ WINES 164 eugen müller pfalz
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PFALZ WINES 166 GEM-080H 2005 Forst
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PFALZ WINES 168 Messmers use only o
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PFALZ WINES 170 theo minges pfalz
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PFALZ WINES 172 GTM-093 2005 Gleisw
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PFALZ WINES 174 Well, guess again.
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PFALZ WINES 176 kurt darting pfalz
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PFALZ WINES 178 GDR-143 2005 Dürkh
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Back Cover Photo: Deer resting in t
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German Catalog 2006 USE THIS ONE.qxp - Michael Skurnik Wines

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