Well-shaped by firm acidity, this white has roundness and texture that helps to buffer the structure. Peach, lemon and stone flavors are the main themes, and the finish is long and focused. Riesling. Drink now through 2025. 600 cases made, 100 cases imported.??–BS??Region: Germany / Rheingau Select to Add

An interesting example, with marzipan hints on the attack, followed by papaya and quince flavors, while pine and mineral details emerge on the finish. Bone-dry but very harmonious. Drink now through 2026. 36 cases imported.??–AZ??Region: Germany / Rheingau Select to Add

The Breuer 2009 Riesling Rudesheim Estate – which leans heavily on fruit from the Drachenstein and Bischofsberg – exhibits a lemony brightness and invigorating tartness resembling that of this years “Sauvage” cuvee, and while it is fuller-bodied, the overall impression is relatively severe. A stony undertone parallels its penetratingly citric finish. I would be inclined to plan on drinking this over the next several years, though perhaps time will bring further complexity and mitigate austerity. Theresa Breuer underplayed the effects of drought conditions during late summer and early autumn 2009 on the performance of her familys vines in the exposed, rocky Rudesheimer Berg, and, admittedly, there are drip lines in some locations to compensate. But I can easily imagine a connection between that drought and the somewhat peaky acids and strident personalities of many wines in the present collection, and Breuer notes that the slightly lower must weights and consequently lower finished alcohol of several wines probably also reflects at least in part vine stress. (The measured levels of acidity are still lower this year than in the corresponding 2008s.) Picking began already at the end of September and lasted until October 25, under conditions Breuer described as “relatively relaxed.” Incidentally, I re-tasted the top 2008s at this address and would rate the Nonnenberg and Berg Rottland a notch up on my account in issue 187. This is an instance where 2009 is I believe highly unlikely to ever approach the outstanding quality level of its immediate predecessor. (Note: most of the dry-tasting Breuer wines are legally trocken but not labeled as such.)Imported by Classical Wines, Seattle WA 206 547 0255

The Breuer 2008 Rudesheim Estate Riesling is sweetly ripe in the nose, with its suggestions of honeysuckle, Persian melon, quince, and white peach, but on the palate it is bright, underlain by stony mineral and peach kernel suggestions, and relatively austere in a manner familiar at this address and especially with this bottling. There is some chew to the finish and a hint of gooseberry tartness, but enough primary juiciness to retain refreshment. This is for fans of lean, bright Riesling to be sure, and I would plan to drink it over the next 4-5 years. At more than 9,000 man hours including the time spent on intensive selection, Heinrich Breuer says this was one of the most labor-intensive and expensive harvests in the estate’s history. “We have 80 parcels in Rudesheim and are very conscientious about checking each one every couple of days to make sure the acidity doesn’t drop too low, to check the must weights, and to deal with any issues that might arise. We were in fact happy to have gotten around a half a gram more acidity at harvest than in the 2007s,” continues Breuer, who says it was really the phenolics and not the quality of acids or levels of sugar that changed while they picked in the course of October. Reports have reached me of the extent to which the top 2008 vintage Rieslings here are said to have became more harmonious and complex in the course of last autumn, so I may well have underestimated them based on my September tastings. But I was already totally disarmed and amazed by the quality of the several best nobly sweet wines, coming as they do from an estate that treats that genre very much as an afterthought (or, more accurately, as a part of pre-harvest provided noble rot is already there) and from a vintage in which so few such wines were essayed nation-wide.Importer: Classical Wines, Seattle WA; tel. (206) 547-0255