Horcher reloaded

I return briefly to a wine I was quite enamoured by last year.

Weingut Horcher, Cuvée CM 2008 trocken, Pfalz, Germany
This has grown on me even more since the summer of 2012. It cost just under than EUR 9 a bottle and I have rarely enjoyed such good value in a red wine per se, let alone a German red wine. It offers an elegance and structure that is frankly astounding for a red wine in its price bracket. The enclosure is screw-top but the wine has developed noticeably. The pencil lead characteristic remains, but this is now accompanied by leathery, dark dried fruit notes on the nose as well as even more finely grained tannins that add complexity on the palate.

I mentioned in my previous posting about this wine having something almost Pinot-esque about it, despite being a classical Cab/Merlot Bordeaux blend. I would stick with this view but add that this is attributable to the total lack of harsh purple tannins and superficiality experienced in red blends of a similar price. A prototype for others to follow, me thinks.

Basler Fasnacht is different.

Basler Fasnacht ended today at 4 a.m. - one of only a handful of carnivals that take place after the Ash Wednesday curfew.

If you've ever attended a carnival in Germany, Basel's version may confuse you. Aware of cultural sensitivities, the local tourist board has even started offering "crash courses" to German tourists visiting Basel during what people here call die drey scheenschte Dääg (the three most beautiful days of the year). Unlike the famous carnivals in Mainz, Cologne and Düsseldorf, active participation by spectators through dressing up or wearing face paint is frowned upon. It is this and the melancholic side to Basler Fasnacht that unassuming visitors from north of border initially have trouble adapting to - hence Basel Tourism's aforementioned re-educative endeavours. Despite being organised in typically Swiss clockwork fashion, there is none of the forced humour and "fun" that blights German carnivals. And the social and political commentary - rendered in the local Baseldytsch dialect - is biting, despite the masks all participants must wear.

Halenberg R

Unlike the previous wine, I have the privilege of owning another five bottles of this specimen. Good job, because it needs at least another five years, I would say.

 



Weingut Emrich-Schönleber, Monzinger Halenberg, Riesling - R - 2009, Nahe, Germany
The 2009 vintage was picture book. By way of anecdote, I recall the glorious warm, sunny weather here in Basel at the end of September 2009 when Jenny and I first moved in together. Perfect weather for grapes, I remember thinking at the time. A bit hot to be lugging sofas and wardrobes around.

The effects of those halcyon days of late summer/early autumn are evident here. This wine shows a vivid, ripe yellow hue. Nevertheless it is reticent on the nose. Eventually, some orangey hints emerge along with maybe some stone fruit.

It's a whole different story on the palate. Altogether a lot more expressive with finest Seville oranges and juicy peaches. A creamy sensation coats the teeth, making the wine seem fuller bodied than it probably is. Like the 2011 Halenberg GG, this is complex juice and the finish is long, though maybe not quite as long.

Analytically on the off-dry side of dry, this is the type of wine they used to produce in abundance back in the day when yeasts often failed to ferment the must to bone dryness. Fermentation would end naturally at around the medium-dry point instead. This "reserve" (released in September 2012, hence the "R") is hailed as a luxury accompaniment to food, and I would wholeheartedly agree. However, it's crying out for years of cellar time to gain greater precision and balance. While the 2011 GG stepped up to the mark immediately and focused the senses thanks to its no-nonsense dry transparency, this "R" still needs to shed its puppy fat. Once it does, it will be spectacular.

Halenberg GG

Owing to - shall we say - a very fortuitous alignment of the stars, a single bottle of this, the 2011 vintage of Emrich-Schönleber's Halenberg grand cru, recently landed in my possession. If asked to name one particularly feted Grosses Gewächs (GG) requiring ample cellar time, this would be many people's choice. And yet, as Frank Schönleber himself commented on his winery's Facebook page at the end of August 2012, "Jetzt wunderschön zu trinken sind folgende Jahrgänge ["The following vintages are now drinking wonderfully]: 2011, 2008, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001".

"Ah well," I thought, "life's too short to prevaricate." If I had six bottles of this elixir, I would probably drink one now anyway (but then hide the remaining five away at least for another half a dozen years or so).

Weingut Emrich-Schönleber, Halenberg GG, Riesling trocken 2011, Nahe, Germany
Pale yellow. Minerally, mildy pungent opening that positively bristles with slate. Initially imposing on the nose, but by no means unapproachable. Over the course of three evenings, this Halenberg partially unveils its mask to reveal yellow stone fruit, hints of pineapple and dry herbs. I say "partially" because you can positively smell the potential. The complexity is there but remains akin to a clenched fist.

And yet, Herr Schönleber was right. This wine is wonderful to drink. Again, blistering minerals on the palate. Highly taut at first, with a ultra-cool entry that grips your gills. A taste sensation that slams you onto the proverbial canvas. Wham! Over 48 hours, the wine loosens up to reveal beautiful, silky acidity. The mouthfeel is velvety while the (yellow) fruit is surprisingly smooth and accessible. And the aftertaste lingers and lingers - at which point the minerally substance returns. Medium-bodied despite packing such a punch.

Genuinely, I would say that this wine puts as great a demand on your concentration as any other I have had. On the other hand, it is up there as one of the best Rieslings I've had the pleasure of drinking.

Britzingen

Although often overlooked, vintners' cooperatives are an essential part of the wine-producing fabric of Baden. Privately run wineries might deservedly get all the plaudits, yet the output of your average Winzergenossenschaft is less shabby than you might imagine.

Which takes me to the village of Britzingen - one of Markgräflerland's most picturesque villages and home to one of the region's best cooperatives. Last September I drank the cooperative's flagship Pinot Noir, "Muggardt", at a restaurant in Müllheim. Named after a nearby hamlet where the vineyard is situated, Muggardt is an impressive wine by anyone's standards. Buoyed by this experience, I bought one of the cooperative's cheaper Spätburgunders just before Christmas.

Winzergenossenschaft Britzingen, Britzinger Sonnhole Spätburgunder trocken 2009, Baden, Germany
This wine originated partially from old vines, with a proportion of the grapes pressed with their stems. Unusually, carbonic maceration was the vinification method applied, i.e. the whole grapes were fermented without any pressing. The wine matured for nine months in a wooden vat.

Dark ruby in appearance. Initial blackcurrent and cherry notes on the nose, followed by chocolatey, cocoa aromas along with raisin, coffee and like pencil lead; unnervingly reminiscent of a Bordeaux-esque red. The palate begins with chocolate and cherry again, which continues through to a warm, smooth finish. Despite the carbonic maceration, which normally results in more fruit than tannins, this wine has quite finely grained tannins. I wouldn't say there is much complexity; the emphasis is more on velvet texturing and spice than on Burgundian cherry fruit with a good acidic backbone.

And, yet, it somehow works. The wine is in balance and is eminently enjoyable.

Siener's Spätburgunder

Part of the embossed "S" on the label

Peter Siener came across as a genial, friendly character during the short chat I had with him about a year ago at a fair in Zurich while tasting through a brief cross-section of his wines. What also struck me was how approachable his Pinot Noirs were. I mean approachable yet serious. Recently, I finally got round to buying a bottle of his estate bottling.

Weingut Siener, Spätburgunder No. 1 trocken 2009, Pfalz, Germany
Light ruby in appearance. An interesting, pungent nose that, despite the ripe vintage, still has a quite appealing minty, greenish note. This characteristic may or may not be a result of keeping the stalks on the grapes during pressing, or it may be something imparted by the oak vats. In any case, I actually like it because it still smells ripe. What I also appreciate is the delicate whiff of raspberry.

Aromatic raspberry continues on the palate, then evolving into something lighter, sappier yet drier. There's also a soupçon of vanilla, but really only a soupçon. In the mouth, the wine is straightforward yet elegantly dancing. Both tasty and comforting, though the flavours remain refined as opposed to overly jammy or in-your-face. An altogether fun wine - which, at Gutswein (estate wine) level, is more or less how it should be, in my view.

Friedrich Becker's Grauburgunder

And now for the final wine in this, January's little Grauburgunder excursion. At EUR 15, it is the priciest - by a clear margin - of the four GBs covered, so any comparison of quality may be slightly askew. But here's an assessment nonetheless.

Weingut Friedrich Becker, Grauburgunder "Kalkmergel" trocken 2011, Pfalz, Germany
As intimated in the description on the back label (see below), this wine has quite a flushed appearance. More a hint of roasted salmon than anything too overt - the result of the juice being left on the dark Grauburgunder skins over a 42-hour period.

An elegant, walnut/hazelnut nose with a suggestion of toasted aromas, honeydew and some citrus. Succulent and sappy on the palate with a touch of berry fruit (strawberry) and honeydew again. Juicy, satisfying yet still fairly light-footed. The finish is medium. However, if I were to be hyper-critical, I would say I'm missing some of the complexity you would expect in this, the more expensive wine.

Whether the extended period of maceration was worth the three to four euros more, apart from lending the wine a darker appearance, is a moot point. Strangely, this Grauburgunder reminds me a little of a blanc de noirs I had last year that punched above its weight and cost some 5 euros less. In quality terms, I would put it on a pedestal with that and with Keller's Grauburgunder.