2001 Rieslings Deliver on Their Promise
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The vines that climb the steep slate banks of Germany’s twisting Mosel river flared golden during the warm, dry October of 2001. Vintners waited patiently through the month as steady sunshine mellowed the effects a harsh summer had had on the Riesling grapes. Then, in early November, just before the frosts, wine makers of the region sent pickers into the vineyards for a swift, selective harvest. The wine presses — and the wine press — were set in motion, one extracting glorious concentrations of nectar from the grapes, the other pumping out praise for a blockbuster vintage.
The promises of both grape and press have been fulfilled. The 2001 Rieslings have been bottled and are now arriving in wine shops throughout Europe and the U.S. They have been greeted by a clamor of accolades: “superb,” “the vintage of a generation,” “Rieslings of the century.” Wine Spectator, a leading trade publication, in its March issue just out this week, heralds the 2001 Rieslings as the best since the legendary 1971 vintage. Frank J. Prial, a wine columnist writing in the New York Times this week, summed up the Mosel vintners’ 2001 output as being “exceptional wines from an exceptional vintage.”
Those who still associate German wine with the thin, saccharine Liebfraumilch that flooded U.S. markets in the 1960s and 1970s will be well served to put lingering distaste aside and try the 2001 Rieslings. Bruce Sanderson, Wine Spectator’s authority on German and Austrian wines, writes that the 2001s “have a concentration, a density, that coasts the mouth while it retains a clarity and harmony that makes them seem weightless.” He has awarded a remarkable 65 of 400 wines tasted, or a full 15%, his highest rating of 95-100 points.
His favorite, a late-harvest dessert wine (Trockenbeerenauslese Rheinhessen Nackenheim Rothenberg, Gunderloch), is one he calls “spellbinding, multifaceted, ethereal,” with aromas and flavors that “seem to melt on the palate.” Although this golden wine comes at a platinum price of US$259 for a slim 375ml bottle, there are many other outstanding 2001 Rieslings priced for everyday drinking. Most are being sold for US$15 to US$35, including the off-dry St.-Urbans-Hof Spaetlese Piesporter Goldtroepfchen for US$20 and a flinty Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Kabinett that topped a New York Times tasting panel’s list and retails for US$17.
Attractive pricing coupled with lower yields (Wine Spectator reports that extraction levels were 30% lower in 2001 than the year before due to thicker skins and pulp) means these wines will be quickly snapped up. The Times reports that U.S. demand for these wines has been “astonishing, even to veteran wine merchants,” with some retailers reporting multicase sales by single purchasers. Wine Spectator’s Sanderson urges Riesling lovers to do likewise: “The 2001s are so delicious now it’s tempting to drink them right away... I definitely recommend enjoying some of these wines over the next year or two. But whatever you do, hang on to a few of these beauties for the next 10 years.... We may have to wait 30 more years for another vintage like 2001.”
German wine labels, with their baroque and polysyllabic classifications,
can be intimidating. A detailed explanation of German wine classifications
is available on the GermanyInfo
website. To learn more about local vintners open to the public and
wine-related events throughout Germany, the German Wine Institute's website
is an excellent place to start. Send for their superb brochures on all
wine regions, which include detailed maps and sightseeing suggestions.
Links
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Grand Cru Classification for German Wines
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short guide to German wines
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