Busch’s 2011 Pundericher Marienburg Riesling Beerenauslese gold capsule represents a negative selection from the corresponding T.B.A., which at the time of my September visit did not, he told me, harbor more than 3% alcohol and was very unlikely to reach the legally requisite 6% before early 2013. This wine, however, like its “regular” B.A. counterpart, finished fermenting in May. It is surprisingly discreet and low-key for its genre, evincing quince, mirabelle preserves, truffle, vanilla cream, and salted caramel. There is a positively buttery texture here, yet also more than a mere modicum of primary juiciness, and, when combined with the wine’s hint of salinity, you get a delectably mouthwatering finish that automatically calls for the next sip. Here, happily at last in the current ennobled series, is a wine that can handle its sweetness with aplomb. I would look for at least a 20 year run. For its aggregate of quality and quantity, insists Clemens Busch, 2011 was about as good as he’s ever gotten, even allowing for crop lost to downy mildew, to the late August hail storm, and to the consequent need to eliminate some early, negative botrytis. But he readily admits that the thin-skinned berries wouldn’t have held out more than a few additional days if the September rains hadn’t stopped. While a bit of wine was harvested already in the first days of October, he reports that the weather turned so warm he declared a week-long moratorium on picking. That, he says, was the second existentially critical point in this vintage’s history, because had the October heat continued, it, too, would have spoiled success. That there was considerable botrytis is testified to by this year’s range of ennoble bottlings – largely late-picked, and even those gold capsule designated approaching 200 liters each – and is probably connected with Busch’s organic and biodynamic vineyard regimen. For whatever reason, notes Busch, botrytis-affected musts this year seldom exhibited enhanced acidity; and that proved, to my palate, a handicap for some of them. Picking continued until November 20, which is about as late as any German grower was still at it in 2011. Passive lees contact, Busch opines, was key to providing needed structure and flavor definition to wines from this vintage’s high-sugar, relatively low-acid musts from thin-skinned berries, and I can only add that it almost surely helped in buffering the several bottlings that strayed into 14% alcohol territory. Most of the Busch 2011s were not bottled before mid-summer, and high-sugar musts were still fermenting or had only just ceased fermenting last September and were not to be bottled until after the harvest or possibly even after the new year, so that among dry-tasting single vineyard wines I could not taste Fahrlay-Terrassen, Felsenterrasse or Raffes. (By the same token, I report below on a couple of 2010s that had not yet been amenable to assessment when I reported on the bulk of Busch’s 2010s in issue 199.) Busch has acquired the excellent former local Lenz-Dahm cellar, where his stocks will henceforth be more adequately accommodated than they were in warehouse-like conditions, but vinification will continue to take place at the familiar home venue. As part of the deal, yet more vineyards were acquired, reinforcing what is now Busch’s overwhelming dominance of the Marienburg. As he never tires of pointing out, other growers could have made something of their precious legacy but found the rigor of farming such steep, terraced sites – effectively accessible from the village only by boat – too onerous; and sold-out to him over the years. Both Busch sons have become increasingly involved in their parents’ labors in recent years, the elder having focused on the evolution of the estate’s biodynamic regimen, and currently embarked on an extended work-residence in France.Imported by Louis/Dressner Selections, New York, NY; tel. (212) 334-8191

Picked from several parcels with the intention of informing a T.B.A. (but then there turned out to be several more of those!), the Busch 2010 Pundericher Marienburg Falkenlay Riesling Beerenauslese gold capsule unleashes an Eiswein-like assault of salted radish and lemon rind that segues into a matrix of pear nectar, honey, and caramel. Besides its somewhat bellicose sense of acid-botrytis bifurcation, this is rather struck-down in the nose by its dose of sulfur. But its sheer viscosity, electric intensity, and penetrating persistence are all forces to reckon with over the next three or four decades. I would wait for at least a decade to even revisit it, but there is no way to completely allay the slight worry that this (like many other nobly sweet bottlings of its vintage) might remain unremittingly sweet-sour. In contrast with most of his Riesling-growing countrymen, Clemens Busch claims that despite the vicissitudes of vintage 2010 and a harvest that lasted through the third week in November his (as always organically-raised) fruit was largely botrytis-free and amounted to a volume only 20% below long-term norms. What’s more, he claims to have harvested scarcely any (save botrytized) grapes at more than a high but manageable 11 grams of acidity and with a good 50% of that being tartaric. Of course, for wines to undergo malo-lactic transformation is not in the least unusual at this address and that was the case once again this year. But virtually all of Busch’s wines had finished both primary and malo-lactic fermentation (in some cases simultaneously – which he prefers – in others sequentially) by June, which is early for his estate. (Exception: one of three Trockenbeerenauslesen was still fermenting and had only reached 3.5% alcohol when I visited in September.) Low sulfur elevage with long lees contact is also normal here, but Busch believes that was especially critical for quality in 2010, guaranteeing that the wines would not harden and that healthy lees would perform a fining and imperfection-healing role such as he claims was taken for granted by Mosel growers two or three generations ago. Careful canopy management, notes Busch, was also critical to 2010 success as a condition for being able to sufficiently postpone picking. This year’s as usual long line-up, incidentally, should not be permitted to deceive: while there are many residually sweet wines in this latest collection, they make up only around 20% by volume of the estate’s 2010 crop. Busch testifies that there is quite a scramble now among young Punderich growers to get a toehold in the Marienburg’s steep slopes that he has in the meantime gone a considerable way toward monopolizing. “The fact is,” he points out, “that at least in their father’s generation such growers’ families had ample opportunity to rescue and cherish these steep slate slopes, but often instead heeded the call of fashion and invested in Dornfelder on the flat side of the river.”Mosel Wine Merchant (various importers); tel. (413) 429-6176; dm@moselwinemerchant.com ; +49 (0) 6742 8980 50; also imported by Ewald Moseler Selections, Portland OR tel. 888 274 4312

Further selectivity netted Busch a 2007 Pundericher Marienburg Riesling Beerenauslese gold capsule even denser, more paste-like and viscous than the corresponding gold capsule Beerenauslese. Horseradish and lemon zest prickle lend the aroma a high-toned air. Lemon candy, yellow plum preserves, white raisin, nut paste and caramel dominate on the palate, conferring a confectionary sweetness that is less relieved by any sense of refreshment and even less scrutable than in its two Beerenauslese siblings, and its finish – while formidable in sheer length – is syrup-like. Clemens Busch – among the Mosel’s few organic vintners, and the undisputed champion of the Lower Mosel’s steep Pundericher Marienburg – is also rapidly demonstrating that he is simply one of the collective Mosel, Saar, and Ruwer’s exceptional talents, not to mention stylistically free spirits. Most of his top wines are labeled with their old pre-1971 site names. Nature thrust on him in 2006 an unprecedented 9 Auslesen (many distinguished only by number), 3 Beerenauslesen, and single T.B.A. (most of which were reviewed in issue 179). In 2007, an at least slightly more normal – not to mention more marketable – balance of dry-tasting (though not always legally trocken) wines was restored, but success, Busch insists, was possible only by dint of great patience and then, when the time was ripe for picking, in great haste. A considerable number of overtly nobly sweet wine was picked in the process, as there was no lack of botrytis in this fungicide-free zone.Mosel Wine Merchant selections (various importers), Trier, Gemany; fax 011 49 (0)651-14551 39; also imported by by Ewald Moseler Selections, Portland OR tel. 888 274 4312

Further selected-out from the material for the Fahrlay and Falkenlay Beerenauslese was a 2006 Pundericher Marienburg Riesling Beerenauslese Gold Capsule. Vanilla, butterscotch, candied citrus, brown-spiced apple jelly, white raisin, and black tea saturate the senses with high-toned intensity. Given the strong pull in a caramelized direction, this lacks the freshness or vibrant citricity of the best wines here today, but it does display amazing delicacy for all of its viscosity, and a wafting elegance in its long finish. There hardly seems much point in re-visiting this for another 20 years – if one wants to drink a Busch 2006 earlier as dessert wine there are more than enough options! – and it looks like another potential fifty year keeper. That said, I’ll try to re-taste at least a couple of these elixirs again this year to see whether they display different facets or reveal further complexity. Clemens Busch farms the steep slopes of the once-famous Pundericher Marienburg on the Lower Mosel entirely organically, which make him unique in the region and a source of wonder for his fellow vintners. Most of his top wines are labeled with their old pre-1971 site names. (Increasingly many growers are managing to get away with this.) Busch has been bottling nobly sweet Riesling since 1999, but never before – he hastens to inform me – in quantities remotely like those that nature imposed on him in 2006: Nine Auslesen, three Beerenauslesen, and a T.B.A.! Like Reinhard Lowenstein (and in a similar style), Busch is best-known inside Germany for his dry (or near-dry) single-site wines, which are not released for more than a year after harvest. (In fact, most of the 2006s had not finished fermenting yet when I visited last summer.)Mosel Wine Merchant selections (various importers), Trier, Gemany; fax 011 49 (0)651-14551 39; also imported by by Ewald Moseler Selections, Portland OR; tel. 888-274-4312