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

MOSEL WINES
62
joh. jos. christoffel
mosel • ürzig
OK: how to tell this story . . .
There is no doubt the market is perturbed for this estate. When Robert Eymael leased it back
in 2002, he had the not-unreasonable idea of increasing the “production” of “Joh. Jos.
Christoffel” (hereafter JJC) by reassigning certain of his own parcels from the Mönchhof estate
over to the JJC “brand”. After all, we were perennially short of wine, and the “new” JJC wines
would in fact be made and guaranteed by Hans-Leo Christoffel.
At least in theory.
The production increases were to be confined to the Kabinett and Spätlese echelons. And at
first the thing was a roaring success. The year 2003 was a monster year for everyone selling
German wines. Then the Dollar tanked and along came
the 2003 vintage, with its cavalcade of expensive
Ausleses, and the market took a brief little hiatus.
But meanwhile Mr. Eymael, produced a lot more
Auslese under the JJC “brand” , and when orders didn’t
reach his expectations, he needed to deplete a whole lot
of wine.
Meanwhile we were gamely trying to remain plausible
as agents for JJC, and Hans-Leo continued to insist
that he stood behind the wines. Even so, we started to
wonder how; the quantities seemed so fungible and subject
to manipulation.
Eymael might have gotten rid of the “excess” JJC
`03s in myriad ways. Alas he elected to do so in the worst
possible way; he sold it at rock-bottom prices to a Dane
who promptly gray-marketed it to the U.S. Many of you
saw the offerings. JJC-becomes-Two-Buck-Chuck.
Clearly things were coming to a head. I needed to
know exactly what guarantee Hans-Leo Christoffel could
offer that he and he alone stood behind his name. We
needed to re-establish the JJC “brand” along its original
lines as a 2.2ha estate producing fewer than 2000 cases
per year. His good name had already been damaged,
through no fault of his except perhaps naïvete.
•Vineyard area: 2.2 hectares
•Annual production: 1,700 cases
•Top sites: Erdener Treppchen, Ürziger
Würzgarten
•Soil types: Weathered Devonian slate with
Rotliegend
•Grape varieties: 100% Riesling
I am unconcerned with any of the details or machinations
between Christoffel and Eymael; they are none of
my business unless they disturb my business. But I am
bedrock-loyal to Hans-Leo, for whom I’d go to the ends
of the earth. I simply need to know it is indeed for him we
all are laboring.
Talks were had. Agreements were reached.
I don’t know how long the market will require to
return to reality. But we will do what we can for the gentleman
we’ve loved and advocated for 20 years.
I can’t remember the last time I tasted cask samples
here. Robert Eymael doesn’t like to show them. The last
few vintages I’ve had to hedge my notes on account of
bottle-sickness, and this is a most inexact science. For
each year the wines come alive (like 2002) there’s another
where they stay the same (like 2003). Hans-Leo’s style
had been growing more and more calligraphic, as if each
year he wrote his flavors with a finer-tipped pen. I also
sense, but cannot state as fact, that Eymael cherishes the
stylistic distinction between Christoffel’s wines and his
own from Mönchhof, which are rather more baroque.
Speculation aside, the `04s felt less stylized and more true
and animate. It was indeed a comeback.
No matter how jaded I fear I’ve gotten, wines like
these have the power to rouse me. They’re dangerous,
these silky vixens. Yet as filigree as they are, after the
fifth or sixth one they begin to consolidate into an