Dusty, smoky, as well as cyanic fruit pit notes in the nose of Pfeffingen’s 2009 Ungsteiner Herrenberg Riesling Grosses Gewachs M (whose initial stands-in for the name of its vineyard of origin, the Mardelskopf) set the tone for the third consecutive installment of this wine to tend toward the austere. Firm, brightly citric, and rather angular, a hint of salinity lends this some ingratiating saliva-inducement but stony and bitter notes pursue the theme of austerity all the way through the finish. I would be watchful of any bottles I had lest in a few years the wine were to become even sparer. Jan Eymael elected to perform significant leaf-removal in order to permit his crop – especially the Scheurebe – to hang free, with the result, he explained, “that botrytis never really could establish itself” and the range of nobly sweet Scheurebe one generally looks forward to at this address is absent from 2009. Total acid levels are moderate this year, but the low pH levels in the grapes led Eymael to give his dry wines longer skin contact than usual to help buffer them. “Bear in mind that we’re one of the warmest spots in the Pfalz,” notes Eymael in connection with this year’s early, September 28, commencement of his Riesling harvest, though picking continued for nearly three weeks.Imported by Rudi Wiest, Cellars International, Carlsbad, CA; tel. 800 596 9463

The Pfeffingen 2008 Ungsteiner Herrenberg Riesling Grosses Gewachs M is initialized to stand for its vineyard of origin, the Mardelskopf. After pushing the envelope toward near-total dryness with this cuvee in 2008, Eymael went in the same direction here. Lemon and pineapple nonetheless give a bright account of themselves, with a sense of density and chalky, smoky underpinnings helping to alleviate what would otherwise be a tendency to become too spare. That said, peach kernel and lemon pip that help extend the finish certainly don’t render this seemingly mineral-saturated super-concentrate any more immediately engaging. Thankfully, its 14% alcohol does not cash out in terms of heat or bitterness, but I would drink this within 5-7 years. In listening to Jan Eymael’s account of how few bunches each wine was thinned-down to and how beautifully golden and uniform were the berries, I can’t help but ask myself, Is all of that effort really worth it to produce an impressive, even striking, but at the same time austere and sensually aloof result like this? And it’s not merely in this instance, nor solely regarding Eymael’s approach that I ask this. It threatened to become another 2006, said Jan Eymael of the mid-September, 2008 rain, but even in the warmest parts of the Pfalz the weather stayed relatively cool, and he did not pick the first Rieslings until September 30, then continuing off and on for three weeks. The later it got, the better the grapes became, comments Eymael. Another month on the vine allowed for the November 18 picking of two magnificent nobly sweet Scheureben.Importer: Rudi Wiest, Cellars International, Carlsbad, CA; tel. (800) 596-9463