Verkostungsnotizen
Vinous 96
Expansive aromas of musky peach, clove oil and passion fruit. The explosive pit fruit flavor are tightly packed, thanks to an almost perfect acid structure that intrigues, charms and then refreshes the palate. The complex finish is long and thought-provokingly complex. One of my top three dry rieslings of the vintage.
Robert Parker 95
The 2007 Riesling G-Max represents as usual Keller’s top selection, from a parcel whose precise identity he prefers not to divulge. Pungently redolent of citrus oils, diverse herbs, and brown spices, this comes to the palate full of pit fruits as well as citrus, herbs, and spices; with gripping intensity and piquancy; but at the same time creamy richness, as well as some of the remarkable sense of interplay between fruit and mineral elements that characterized the Morstein. To combine the ultra-concentration of these elements without tipping into bitterness, all the while while retaining a persistent sense of energy and lift, is the great accomplishment of this wine that too few Grosse Gewachse come close to achieving. That said, is isn’t as though this G-Max is as utterly in a class by itself among Keller’s top Rieslings as had been the case in 2006, because this year " in his own words " all of the fruit for the top dry wines a oewas just perfectly beautiful.a If you’re lucky enough to land some of this, don’t plan on drinking the last of it for at least two decades. Klaus-Peter Keller has acquired in time for the 2009 vintage a piece of Nierstein’s famous red Rhine shore slopes, but while he is obviously excited by the prospects he is anxious to remind me that a oein the 15th Century, the bishops in Worms were not drinking wine from the Red Slope, but rather an aptes erdena " an allusion to the Abtserde vineyard, from which he began rendering dedicated Riesling in 2006 " a oeand they were certainly very savvy.a Keller considers 2007 a oethe most successful vintage in Germany for dry wine in a long while,a and when pressed admits he means an unprecedented vintage, since in his opinion he and his colleagues have been on a steep learning curve and were less well-positioned to take full advantage of past vintages that might have been theoretically ideally suited to Riesling trocken. Today, he says, he aims to a oeachieve slimness and elegance as well as ripeness.a Keller’s relentless pursuit of quality is encompassing longer cask maturation and later release of his best dry wines as well as experimentation in both red and sweet wine methodology. (Note that for all of the Keller 2007s I have tasted, there are also Auslesen from Hubacker and Morstein; a T.B.A. from Hubacker; and several other wines that I did not have chance to experience.) Judging by Keller’s three Pinots " tasted from barrel, and then from bottle " for him, at least, this is a vintage of exceptional potential in red as well. Imported by Sussex Wine Merchants, Moorestown, NJ; tel. (856) 608 9644, Dee Vine Wines, San Francisco, CA tel. (877) 389-9463, and Frances Rose Imports Inc., Huntley, IL; tel. (815) 382 9533
Anticipated maturity: 2009-2029
