2010 A.J. Adam Dhroner Hofberg Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel 7

Adam’s “starred” 2010 Dhronhofberger Riesling Auslese One Star is from 100% botrytis, but as he points out, “I already elected to adorn my wines with gold capsules, so I can’t very well distinguish a particular Auslese that way.” (Fastidious folk may wish to note that there are actually two prominent stars on this wine’s label: one to either side of the word “Auslese.”) Browned butter and caramel; grapefruit and gingered pear; honey and a Chartreuse-like herbal essence make for a conspicuously different aromatic profile than that of any other wines in the present collection, and a complexity corresponding to its dazzling nose informs this Auslese’s glycerin-rich, suggestively creamy yet at the same time almost explosively bright palate. Saliva-liberating salt, savory browned butter and juicily refreshing citrus are somehow perfectly, not to mention compellingly, integrated into the caramelized and honeyed components of a magnificently persistent, energetically super-charged finish. I find it hard to imagine that wine lovers younger than I won’t be ecstatically extolling its virtues fifty years from now. Only thanks to the additional acreage he acquired last year, says Andreas Adam, was he able to offset the reduced yields of 2010 and come close to meeting a demand for his wines that has significantly increased. (And if you don’t now why it’s increased, my guess is you have yet to discover his wines!) Next year, additional parcels will come on-line particularly in cooler portions of the Dhronhofberg where it follows the Dhron heading away from the Mosel and into the Hunsruck hills. Adam has also acquired additional steep, mechanically inaccessible plots in the Piesporter Goldtropfchen whose old vines he feared would otherwise be at risk. “But I want to put most of my emphasis on Dhronhofberg,” he clarifies, “not compete with Theo and Johannes (Haart) who are the leaders in Piesport.” Adam is especially proud of recently restoring a Dhronhofberg parcel planted in 1973 to unusual density and elated over having been able to acquire what he believes is the last remaining terraced portion of this Einzellage, an almost perpetually breezy location nearly half of which had long ago gone to scrub. With yet more incredible good luck, Adam has latched onto some perfectly-maintained casks from a neighbor that will insure a consistent degree of reliance on fermentation and maturation in neutral oak. Picking in 2010 began already on October 15, in Piesport, “otherwise,” notes Adam, “some of that fruit would have gotten too ripe, because we’re talking about terraces that already in the 1990s were routinely reaching Oechsle in the 90s,” and was not completed until November 6. “It was a stressful harvest, with very small results on any given day. We did no chemical de-acidification and no malo-lactic either,” he asserts, “but we upped the length of maceration a bit to 18 hours, and in the feinherb wines we left behind additional residual sugar. We pumped some warm air into the cellar to promote spontaneous fermentation and that functioned really well. Most of the wines were finished by New Year’s: we must have a strong yeast population in our cellar. It was very cold last winter, so once the fermentations were done, we threw open the doors and got lots of tartrate precipitation.” The wines were separated from their gross lees early but stayed on their fine lees until bottling, which took place on the estate’s usual schedule, already in late March. “I’ve found that it’s on their fine lees that my wines acquire elegance,” contends Adam, “whereas if they spend too long on the full lees they can easily become too creamy for my taste.” In considering my prognostications of age-ability, readers should bear in mind not only that I have tried to be very conservative, but also that a track record is only now accumulating for this estate, whose first harvest was 2001. (Note too that on his presentation labels, Adam prints only the name “Hofberg” in large – gothic – letters, but I continue to refer to “Dhronhofberger” which, along with “Dhroner Hofberg,” is one of the two officially sanctioned ways of referring to this site.) Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300