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

the Dhronhofberger Tholey, with its brittle blue clayslate
mixed with qualtz and Klimmer, whose riesling
tastes almost as if it emerged from a tropical garden;
maracuja, papaya, pineapple and with a slight breeze of
honey and caramel. Here on the Mosel we have lovely
variations of slate and exposure.”
And vinification, I ask? Anything which separates
you from the prevailing norm?
“Actually we do nearly nothing differently than did
our forefathers in the 20s: small yields of late-harvested
Riesling grapes are gently handled and pressed (we still
press some in an old wooden press); after an open mustoxidation
the wines fall bright at cool temperatures in stainless
steel, and later ferment in old wooden Fuders. Finito!
That’s all, nothing else, just wait for the wild yeasts to begin
their work. No must or mash sulfuring, no enzymes, no gelatin,
no added vitamins, no bentonite — pure nature!
To the extent we employ technology it is only in the
service of cleanliness.”
I’m curious to know what kinds of wines a grower
drinks at home in private, i.e. what he drinks for pleasure.
Adam says, “A wide range of Grüner Veltliners, which I
prefer to Grand Crus in white Burgundy; Rieslings from
great sites in our region whether dry or sweet; vintage
Champagnes; the occasional rose-scented Muscat from
Südsteiermark or a smoky-flinty Loire Sauvignon from
someone like Dageneau.” Nice to know if I were ever
quarantined at Adam’s there’d be plenty to drink.
He has a telling comment to make about deacidification:
“A great Riesling with a rather high level of acidity
is no catastrophe on the palate; it just needs time. But
if we ever needed to deacidify, we’d have done it before
the grapes ferment, via reduced yields, intensive soil and
leaf work, air-flow management, sun-exposure management,
and finally a selective harvest where we only pick
ripe fruit. I can get aromas from the skins in the presshouse,
and also reduce acids by must-oxidation, which
also eliminates undesirable tannins and phenols.”
Or, one might add, you can take it easy and just
dump in some chemicals.
Finally, as I run through the basics of his vineyard
and cellar work, I need you to understand the extent to
which this is emblematic of the new thinking in qualityminded
German vintners, a thinking which has undergone
a 180-degree turn in the last twenty years. These
basics are:
• Exclusively organic fertilizing
• Green-harvest to reduce yields
• Hand-harvesting only
• Must-clarification by gravity (no centrifuges or filters)
• Ambient wild-yeast fermentations (There are
many shades of opinion on this question.)
• Long lees-contact (4 months, followed by another
6 weeks on the fine-lees)
• No dosage (I happen to disagree with this but
applaud the purism which prompts it)
Thus our young hero, and thus my great good fortune
to have encountered him. I look forward to every
glass we will raise together.
He had a practicum at Heymann-Löwenstein, a celebrated
estate in Winningen who was the first to break
free of the whole ripeness-pyramid thing. I gather he’s
worked at Van Volxem too, and Roman wants him back.
“You can’t have him!” I said. “I want him to continue his
winery.”
But the truth is, it isn’t easy. His father was a co-op
member; I think the estate only has five rows more than
a hectare, and if young Mr. Adam wishes to continue, it
will cost many Euro. We are hoping he will, and standing
by to help. All kidding aside, what I actually told
him was “I won’t pressure you, but I will say if you do
decide to continue you will have a highly committed
customer in me.” He’ll probably do a little of each; work
for one of his kindred spirits while growing his own
estate incrementally.
Friend, if you’ve tasted any of the first wave of
Adam wines, you’ll know why I care so much.
With the first taste of the first wine I knew it; here
was someone to be reckoned with. There was simply
more going on here, more weight, more expression,
more seriousness, more drive. How was this estate
under the radar?
As we tasted through his range (7 wines) it was
unequivocally clear to me: This is a star in the making. I
decided to list the wines before I knew their prices!
As I mentioned, Adam’s caught the wave started by
Löwenstein and continued by Roman at Van Volxem.
(Though I think he’s making better wines than both his
“mentors.”) For these growers, the ripeness pyramid of
the German wine law is irritatingly irrelevant. They’re
especially annoyed by the whole “Spätlese Trocken”
thing. For them, their dry wines will all be QbA (ostensi-
bly!) and they’ll identify them by site-name, often by
site-names more specific than the law recognizes. You
and I are familiar with this sensibility from Austria, of
course. And it makes sense. Wines with significant residual
sugar will be bottled with Prädikat designations,
though most of these guys really don’t like “Kabinett,”
which is inconvenient because, of course, y’all really do.
The Germans are victims of their own logic here;
Kabinett is positioned as both the driest and most affordable
of the “top” level of production.
But you can always see when a wine law needs
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MOSEL WINES