Emrich-Schonleber Grauburgunder (Pinot Gris) Trocken S

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The Schonlebers’ 2010 Grauburgunder trocken S fermented and aged in a 1,200-liter Stockinger cask from (nearby) Hunsruck oak. Toasted hazelnut and roasted root vegetables headline this subtly creamy but satisfyingly juicy (if in no way sweetly-fruited) and impeccably-balanced Pinot Gris. Finishing with saliva-inducing salinity and admirable persistence if only modest complexity, it may well gain in interest over the half dozen or more years that one can expect a Schonleber Pinot to be worth following. ”Look, the acid levels were almost this high in 1994 – though with much higher yields,” relates Werner Schonleber of 2010, “and yet 1994 was probably my most individual year of the 1990s,” a judgment in which, incidentally, I concur. Musts of extremely high acidity (a couple had pHs under 3.0) were de-acidified – “very cautiously,” notes Frank Schonleber, “l(fā)eaving plenty of leeway in case one or the other went into malo,” which several Riesling lots spontaneously followed the lead of the estate’s Pinots in doing. Despite high levels of potassium (not to mention, of course, tartaric acid) and a cold winter, there was relatively little precipitation of tartrates at this address. Early picking of the Schonlebers’ Auf der Lay parcel, already with significant botrytis, militated against there being an “A.de.L” bottling this year such as had been essayed – exclusively in magnum – in the two preceding vintages. This is really a year, chez Schonlebers, for Fruhlingsplatzchen as a site to shine, though neither they nor I can offer a hypothesis. Regarding the gap or jump in this year’s line-up from “regular” (though in fact, fantastic) Auslesen to Eiswein, Werner Schonleber commented that given the quality and the paucity of fruit available, “Attempts to segregate a gold capsule Auslese were going to make for (“regular”)Auslese in which something was missing. And we scarcely thought ourselves capable of a Beerenauslese this vintage; the attempt wouldn’t have gone well. We had lovely botrytis, but by no means such concentrated berries.”Imported by Sussex Wine Merchants, Moorestown, NJ; tel. (856) 608 9644; also imported by Dee Vine Wines, San Francisco, CA tel. (877) 389- 9463

Winter pear tinged with smoky peat; piquantly cyanic fruit pip; and pungent lime peel, scent and flavor the Schonleber 2009 Grauburgunder S, which comes off surprisingly slimmer (at a half a percent less alcohol) than this year’s Pinot Blanc. A strong saline streak – as well as white pepper pungency – serves for invigoration in a long, subtly smoky finish. This abundantly juicy, elegant, strikingly mineral Pinot Gris ought to perform adeptly at table over the next 4-6 years. Werner and Frank Schonleber harvested through nearly the entire month of October, and noted that levels of sugar and total acidity remained fairly constant, while flavors kept improving and malic acid diminishing in favor of tartaric. Speaking of improving, it’s hard for these two vintners to much-improve their by now phenomenal batting average, but no Riesling lover is likely to suffer the least disappointment by buying bottles of Emrich-Schonleber 2009s. Especially at its dry end, this is a collection to describe which seems to call for an extended mineral vocabulary that doesn’t even exist in English or German! And in nobly sweet echelons, the small amount of Riesling the Schonlebers rendered is strikingly successful and informed by an ample if mysterious measure of sheer juiciness. About the absence of Eiswein, Frank Schonleber notes: “We had the feeling that ripeness had simply advanced too far in 2009 to justify leaving any grapes hanging in anticipation of frost.”Imported by Sussex Wine Merchants, Moorestown, NJ; tel. (856) 608 9644; also imported by Dee Vine Wines, San Francisco, CA tel. (877) 389- 9463

The Schonlebers’ 2008 Grauburgunder S is even more striking – because less-expected – than the corresponding Pinot Blanc for its brightness and sense of lift, virtues that usually accrue to Pinot Gris only at the price of deficiency in ripeness, but is not evident here. Green hazelnuts and marginally ripe yellow plum inform a juicy, refreshing, almost delicate palate, and hints of toasted almond and salt inform a satisfyingly savory and stimulating finish. I’d plan on enjoying this over the next 3-4 years. Werner and Frank Schonleber are another Nahe dream team whose amazing performance in 2007 has been equaled in 2008. “I wouldn’t call it a vintage with the emphasis on fruit,” says Werner Schonleber, “but rather on a pronounced, saline minerality. And there was no great selection of nobly sweet wine this year, because every three or four days it would rain at least a little bit.” He offers as “a very simple explanation” of this pronounced minerality the classic one adduced by growers (whether or not scientifically supportable) that the vines better “assimilate mineral stuff” when mild weather and plenty of moisture grease – as it were – the wheels of plant metabolism. And such vintages always boast measurably high levels of dry extract; the question remains, has that – as most growers believe – anything to do with their expression of flavors for which we feel compelled to employ mineral vocabulary?Importers: Sussex Wine Merchants, Moorestown, NJ; tel. (856) 608-9644; Dee Vine Wines, San Francisco, CA tel. (877) 389-9463

Schonleber’s 2007 Grauburgunder S smells of green herbs and toasted hazelnuts. With the snap and salinity of soy sauce-tinged water chestnut and suggestions of under-ripe peach, it displays an uncanny ability (more often observed in Pinot Blanc) to display both power and elegance and to retain sap and refreshment even as it projects considerable body (at 13.5% alcohol). Subtle suggestions from the cask, a faintly bitter, pungent edge, and suggestion of wet stone all add counterpoint to hints of nut cream, while a subtle oiliness of texture adds allure to this Pinot Gris whose illustrious predecessors often did not hit their stride for a few years and remained delicious for a decade or more. To say that Werner and son Frank Schonleber have been on a roll lately must count as an understatement (and that applies to 2008, too). Two heads are better than one, no doubt, plus the advantages of accumulated wisdom and acreage – the family is filling-in what was once a decidedly, in places depressingly patchy landscape by buying up prime parcels from retiring vintners – are obvious. The Schonlebers went over their vineyards in early October to pull out some botrytis that had already accumulated and to thin their crop, and began seriously harvesting Riesling after the 10th. The estate’s vines were largely spared savage but capricious hail that rained down on parts of the Fruhlingsplatzchen. Werner Schonleber draws a stylistic comparison with the 2002 vintage, which he convincingly demonstrated with several bottles.Imported by Sussex Wine Merchants, Moorestown, NJ; tel. (856) 608 9644; also imported by Dee Vine Wines, San Francisco, CA tel. (877) 389- 9463