Enkircher Batterieberg - Riesling (22)

Riesling | 80 jaar oude wijngaard | grijze leisteen met kwartsiet | 10,7 gram restsuiker | niet volledig droog | gastronomisch | zoutig | zeer spannende wijn

Immich Batterieberg

De man achter de wijnen van Immich-Batterieberg is Gernot Kollman. Na stages bij Dr.Loosen, van Volxem en 4 jaar bij Weingut Knebel, besloot hij in 2009 het toen failliete wijngoed Immich Batterieberg te kopen om daar zijn eigen wijn te produceren. Gernot staat bekend om zijn fraaie beendroge stijl Riesling die hij spontaan vergist op eikenhouten voeders in de Mosel. Minder restzoet, maar een spatzuivere, energieke levendige wijn met een betere expressie van de wijngaard. Een Riesling met enorme klasse!

Review

From 80-year-old, ungrafted vines on gray slate with quartzite soils in the upper terraces of the cru, the 2017 Enkircher Batterieberg Riesling offers a super clear, fine, elegant, crystalline and deep bouquet with the open heart of a Condrieu. The nose is fabulously aromatic, intense, seamless and textured! Lush and round on the highly refined and elegant palate, the wine offers very fine tannins, lingering mineral freshness and crunchy salinity. This is a beautiful Riesling that did not ferment fully dry, stopping at 10.7 grams per liter of residual sugar. Gernot Kollmann wishes the wine would have fermented to fully dry, but as always, he didn't force it. However, the wine is beautifully ripe, lush and also balanced and will integrate its charming sweetness over the years. The sugar doesn't take anything away from the precision and terroir expression and will help the wine to age beautifully over at least a decade. I very much recommend this beauty. Tasted in March 2019. Stephen Reinhardt 95/100

In the past years and under the direction of Gernot Kollmann, Immich-Batterieberg has quietly grown to become one of the Mosel's top domaines for dry Riesling. The yields in the terribly steep vineyards in Enkirch are spectacularly ridiculous, and they were especially so in 2017 until mainly a spring frost reduced the yields down to 20 hectoliters per hectare. There was almost no botrytis in Enkirch, and Kollmann regards 2017 rightly as "a top vintage with extract, acidity and good aging potential." Due to very small quantities, Kollmann did not produce the Zollturm in 2017 but instead produced a terrific Reserve wine from the Zeppwingert that is sourced only in the highest terraces. The quantity is therefore very low (only 900 liters), but even the "regular" Zeppwingert is a highly expressive terroir wine, as is the Batterieberg, another highlight of a great vintage for Immich-Batterieberg.