Weingut Ratzenberger Steeger St. Jost Riesling Kabinett Halbtrocken, Mittelrhein, Germany

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Lime, grapefruit, and autumn squash scent and flavor the Ratzenberger 2010 Steeger St. Jost Kabinett halbtrocken, whose hint of residual sugar is more than balanced out by high acidity, but no doubt contributes to the sense of lusciousness conveyed on a bright, light palate. No doubt, too, the wine’s high extract - which in no way contradicts a sense of levity - is conducive to knittedness and harmony. Suggestions of root vegetables add to the complexity of this handsomely lean wine that gets by remarkably well without being especially ripe. Here is a vivid example of 2010 being a throwback to earlier times, and I could imagine myself in the presence of a young wine from such statistically ordinary yet at their best distinctively successful vintages as 1981 or 1986. Considering that this had only been bottled two weeks before I tasted and thus had every reason to be out of sorts, it represents an exceptional performance for its vintage, if not for this particular cuvee, whose history - like this instantiation - is one of excellent value. I tasted from 2010 the smallest Ratzenberger line-up I could recall, due to the facts that fewer wines were bottled; the Norwegians had purchased a Wolfshohle Auslese without remainder; and the vintage’s two Grosse Gewachse were still fermenting at the time of my September visit. (I did taste the cloudy, leesy, still-embryonic St. Jost and found it formidably dense, pithy, and citric.) “We hadn’t de-acidified in more than twenty years,” claims the younger Jochen Ratzenberger, “but anybody who says they didn’t this year is lying.” He calls it “a hard autumn” with picking and pressing so onerous and time-consuming that “we were in the cellar until two and three every morning and in the end there was little to show for it. I don’t want to go through anything like it again soon.” The total volume was but half of a normal crop, with quantities at the Q.b.A. and Kabinett levels confined to what was felt to be the commercially requisite minimum. Fermentations were sluggish - sometimes kicking into malo -and for that reason even the lighter wines weren’t bottled until July. “You couldn’t do anything by rote, but had to keep tasting every lot as it evolved and each was different from the next,” adds Ratzenberger, who reports that in the best instances malic and tartaric acid levels were about equal by the time of picking.Imported by Sussex Wine Merchants, Moorestown, NJ; tel. (856) 608-9644

The scarcely noticeable (as such) 15 grams of residual sweetness in Ratzenberger’s 2009 Steeger St. Jost Kabinett halbtrocken beautifully brings out this wine’s inherent apricot and winter squash elements while setting off its herbal pungency; fruit pit piquancy; saline, crustacean shell reduction savor; and ineffable, somehow ore-like mineral depth. At the same time, 11% alcohol serves for a sense of levity. Subtly floral scents; emerging underlying almond oil; and subtle creaminess add allure, while the sheer juiciness and salinity here are irresistibly enticing of saliva as well as of each next sip. Jochen Ratzenberger Jr. claims this was “more euphoric” prior to its June bottling, and if that points toward the future of this already amazing “l(fā)ittle” wine and sensational value, then watch out! It ought to be worth pursuing not just in the marketplace, but over the next 15 or more years in bottle. The two Jochen Ratzenbergers began picking early in October and were done by the end of that month, with – to the extent that I could assess them – consistently fine results. The collection included only a single botrytis wine, a Wolfshohle Auslese that had received some special press recognition in Germany very early, on account of which the father-son team claimed not to have even a single bottle to show me. What was to have been this year’s Bacharacher Posten Spatlese halbtrocken resolutely stopped fermenting with 30 grams of residual sugar; and I can’t offer a note on the results, because some Swiss merchant had bought every last bottle from Ratzenbergers. The 180 liters of Ratzenberger 2009 Kloster Furstental Eiswein had not nearly finished fermenting when I tasted it, but even in its leesy, cloudy, and still-active state it was clear that this would become an impressively concentrated libation. (It started life at 210 Oechsle and at the steady fermentative tempo which it had exhibited through September, was expected to officially become wine by last Christmas – though when it would be deemed “finished” was anybody’s guess.) Speaking of which, Ratzenbergers have just taken over some additional acreage in the Kloster Furstental, which in future might result in other single-vineyard bottlings from that site. “We couldn’t take all of the acreage that was offered,” relates the younger Jochen Ratzenberger, “but we took what we could handle. We want to do our part to see that this amazing steep site remains planted.” The absence of suggested retail pricing for many Ratzenberger wines I review could, I decided, use some explanation. By arrangement with their importers – as a survey of the U.S. marketplace confirms – only their lightest-weight wines are released by the Ratzenbergers in the year following their bottling (and even then, not their sweeter Kabinett from the St. Jost). But as wines with bottle age are released, Spatlesen have tended lately to sell in the $30 retail range; Auslesen and Grosse Gewachse in the $45-50 retail range, confirming Ratzenberger Rieslings as superb values.Imported by Sussex Wine Merchants, Moorestown, NJ; tel. (856) 608 9644

The latest installment of another perpetual Ratzenberger bargain, their 2008 Steeger St. Jost Kabinett halbtrocken leads with zesty pungency that presages the juicy freshness of orange, lemon, and apple it refreshingly deploys on the palate. There is a suffusion of what can only in my experience be likened to shrimp shell reduction, with a saline savor that will have you licking your lightly sizzling lips impulsively after you swallow. As with others of the best Mittelrhein Rieslings – not just chez Ratzenberger – this combines a palpable sense of extract or stuffing with levity and vivacity. Its only weakness is temporary, I’m confident, namely a slight sweet-sour finishing bifurcation thanks to the aggressive acids of the vintage. Plan on employing this versatile Riesling at table over the next 8-10 years. Having suggested this, I should point out that similarly-finished Ratzenberger wines from much weaker vintages have often tasted snappy and invigorating at closer to two decades’ age. When you taste a collection like this year’s from the two Jochen Ratzenbergers, you have to wonder why their wines’ consistent quality; track record for aging; and frequently stellar performances do not make this one of the most talked-about estates in Germany. (Maybe I shouldn’t wish that on us!) In fact, they are quite well-respected at home, but I think there is a certain snobbishness that rebounds against even the best Mittelrhein Riesling because this region’s precious half-timbered villages and crenellated slopes spell “tourist country” to most German wine lovers.Importer: Sussex Wine Merchants, Moorestown, NJ; tel. (856) 608-9644

Musky, meaty, saline aromatics mark the nose of Ratzenberger 2007 Steeger St. Jost Kabinett halbtrocken, with sharp suggestions of lemon zest and radish as well as further mineral and carnal nuance emerging on the palate. The level of residual sugar seems awkwardly-judged – at least, for now – as there is a sweet-sour tug, and yet too little sweetness to balance the wine’s sharp and pungent elements. A faintly milky note appears in the finish, along with and despite the wine’s citrus. You can’t fault this on overall concentration, delicacy, or flavor fascination, but in the context of so many strikingly successful renditions from past vintages, it is a bit of a disappointment. Perhaps it will harmonize more, even short-term, and I would be inclined to revisit it by 2011. The delicate and refreshing 1986 – while wanting to be drunk-up – tasted lovely last September from Ratzenbergers’ cellar. “Of course,” jokes Jochen Ratzenberger Sr., “we wouldn’t make a wine at 75 Oechsle any more, and it wouldn’t sell, either!” Perhaps that’s a pity. Jochen Ratzenberger Jr. expressed delight with his 2007s, and even though I’m straining to recollect a vintage with which he wasn’t pleased, the truth is, he and his father comprise one of the most consistently high-performance teams in German viticulture, and their 2007 collection is consistently impressive. Both of the Ratzenbergers’ 2007 vintage Grosse Gewachse – in what has been fairly typical behavior – finished fermenting only in mid-August, and were immediately bottled with barely enough time to appear at the annual Berlin Presentation of Germany’s collective wines in this genreImported by Sussex Wine Merchants, Moorestown, NJ; tel. (856) 608 9644