2011 Riesling Rosenberg

Picked – like this collection’s Furstentum bottling – on the 29th of September, except at much higher must weight in essentially late harvest conditions, the Mann 2011 Riesling Rosenberg delivers lusciously ripe peach seductively garlanded with rowan and heliotrope that pour unctuous fruit and heady, liquefied floral perfume on a subtly creamy and expansive palate. Marzipan, vanilla and peach nectar are supported by sweetness in a long finish without it becoming overbearing or precluding a genuine sense of refreshment. This ought to be worth following through at least 2028, and as its sense of sweetness diminishes, expect to find further alluring flavor essences revealed. The Barthelmes were out picking Riesling already very soon after mid-September of 2011, and as Jacky Barthelme relates and the bottled results testify, “the skins were already ripe by then. And we picked one lot at only 12% potential alcohol. The vines were under no stress this year so their ripening cycle was finished early.” He adds that the vines weren’t hedged during the summer, an approach that is gaining support among growers internationally, not to mention support from the results I have tasted. Light pressing in small lots and minimal settling were parts of the crush regimen that may have helped in achieving some of the most refined, elegant, texturally alluring Rieslings I witnessed from this vintage. In some instances, the Mann 2010s were harvested at higher must weights than their 2011s, a function at least in part of low yields coupled with the need to let the fruit hang to moderate acidity and achieve ripe flavors. Despite the usual profusion of nobly sweet bottlings at this address, there happened to be only a single wine from either vintage that the Barthelmes chose to declare as V.T. Importer: Weygandt-Metzler, Unionville, PA; tel. (610) 486-0800