"Wine(s) of the Year" Begin Today!
2009 Emrich-Schönleber Dry Riesling "Mineral"
This year, to be honest, the choice was very easy...
"2009 may well be remembered generations hence by the monumental quality of the dry Rieslings this year... I have never tasted a greater set of dry Rieslings from Germany."
-John Gilman, View from the Cellar
Gilman, above, is absolutely spot on.
Overall, there has never been a better vintage for dry Rieslings in Germany. The 2009ers have extraordinary depth, the fruit could not be clearer or purer; the balance of the wines is simply perfect.
Believe me, for a number of reasons I did NOT want to pick a Riesling for my "Wine of the Year" - enough's enough, I know, I know. At the same time, the off-the-charts quality of the wines along with a very beneficial shift for the dollar vs. the euro, make this the year, if ever there was one, to try a dry Riesling from Germany. (For collectors, these wines are going to age well, and age long...)
So today I kick off Crush's "Wine(s) of the Year" week, with what I believe is perhaps the greatest dry Riesling value I have ever experienced: Emrich-Schönleber's saturating dry Riesling "Mineral".
I spent nine days in Germany in April of this year; I visited 17 estates and tasted a few hundred Rieslings - and this is the bottle that’s still on my mind. I have to say, choosing a "Wine of the Year" can be a daunting task. I'm sure it can come off as a cheap marketing ploy, but it's actually something we take very seriously. In the past, we've spent considerable time debating one wine vs. another vs. another vs. another...
This year, to be perfectly honest, it was very, very easy for me.
For anyone who likes crisp wines with a refreshing snap, this will be a revelation. The core of this wine is, as you might expect, mineral. There is a spring-water freshness to the wine, something like a glacier melting over slate. Yet, there is also a depth and concentration of fruit (2009 was, after all, a ripe vintage) that gives the 2009 Mineral a density and weight that is more like Grand Cru Chablis.
The wine has simply psychotic length, extract that is almost chewy, as if lime and apricot were zested into each and every glass. I have no doubt this sounds like a lot of hyperbole, but as I sit here tonight writing this email, drinking this wine for the umpteenth time, I truly do not think this wine is far off its "Grand Cru" older brothers, the Grosses Gewächs.
Indeed, Emrich-Schönleber is one of the greatest producers of dry Rieslings in Germany. To me, they are dry wine specialists and their Grosses Gewächs are likely the best of the best for 2009. Both wines - the Halenberg and Frühlingsplätzchen - are very worthy of their $65+ price tags. Yet, in all honestly, the “Mineral” is not far off the mark and it's a wine that is drinking well now and will power on (easily), for a decade plus.
So, while we still have the wine, while the price is this low, do stock up... and have a great holiday.
To order, email us at offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463.
Stephen Bitterolf
Wine Director
Crush Wine & Spirits
NET | No further discount