2017 Enkircher Ellergrub Riesling
Estimated value
Buying options
Tasting notes
Tarragon, mint, bay laurel, yellow cherry and mirabelle mingle on the nose with intimations of alkalinity and wet stone that are thereafter prominent on the silken palate. The herbal elements, along with hints of grapefruit peel and a nip of black pepper, combine for lovely bittersweetness on a superbly sustained finish at once cooling and luscious but also invigorating. (“Bittersweet” should not be misinterpreted as alluding to residual sugar: Unlike 2016, the Ellergrub this year finished with only four grams.)
Critic scores
Average Score
Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate
David Schildknecht, Vinous
More reviews and scores
The 2017 Enkircher Ellergrub Riesling offers a spectacularly intense, refined and, in fact, seamlessly textured nose that intermixes the perfectly ripe and concentrated fruit of 80-year-old ungrafted vines with the delicately flinty and crunchy notes of the blue slate soil that characterizes the Ellergrub terroir. The 2017 did not ferment to fully dry and comes along as a powerful, rich, dense and lush yet finessed Riesling with firm structure and a long, intense, perfectly juicy finish. It will take some years to fully integrate the 7.8 grams per liter of unfermented sugar, but with a long perspective, this is a great dry Riesling from one of Enkirch's top vineyards. The aftertaste is impressive in its lush, aromatic, crystalline and super salty and stony character. This is a great wine at 12% alcohol, and I am curious to follow its development over the next 10 to 15 years. Tasted in March 2019.