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Bassermann-Jordan

Harvest here began in mid-September 2016 – only a week later than in 2015 – and the last Riesling grapes were picked by the end of the third week of October. But those parameters offered the grapes ample opportunity for profiting from the clear, chilly weather that prevailed from late September, as well as permitting a leisurely pace of picking. (A Goldmuskateller Auslese was not harvested until late November and the corresponding Eiswein not until January 3, 2017.) There was too little botrytis in Riesling to support any Auslese, and what there eventually was of botrytis on Gewürztraminer and Scheurebe – which each usually inform a Bassermann-Jordan Auslese – was this year just plain rot. Most of the dry 2016 Bassermann Rieslings hover near 13% alcohol, which director Gunter Hauck explained in terms of the concentration that resulted from relatively low yields, but thankfully none of the wines exhibit heaviness or heat. Some of them do, however, reveal noticeable wood influence, since the renewal of casks that has recently been undertaken by many Pfalz estates, possibly combined with a bit of fashion for oak influence, leads to portions of the Grosse Gewächse having been raised in new wood. Bottling extended from April through (in the case of Grosse Gewächse) late June. As usual, I was not able to taste quite all of the Bassermann-Jordan Riesling bottlings, due to (among other things) the continued association of dry Rieslings from certain prestigious sites with specific clients. The estate’s Deidesheimer Leinhöhle, for instance, goes to a single restaurateur in Heidelberg, while the Ruppertsberger Spiess is monopolized by BASF. Other dry Rieslings I missed in my survey of the 2016 vintage include a trio from Ruppertsberger – Reiterpfad, Hoheburg and a village-level bottling – and a Deidesheimer Kalkofen.

I can’t restrain myself from mentioning that this estate – which over the past century has alternated among three justly iconic labels, the earliest of which, from 1811, is probably one of the oldest such designs still in use anywhere – is among the many that just can’t seem to leave well enough alone. The Jugendstil label created in 1905 by Alois Balmer and depicting the Roman Emperor Probus – which has in recent years graced most Bassermann-Jordan bottles – has now been rendered in a garish, metallically embossed red-black-gold version expressly for the estate’s Grosse Gewächse. Incidentally, the team of Hauck and cellarmaster Ulrich Mell has now been in place for more than two decades at this venerable estate, which will celebrate its 300th anniversary in the summer of 2018. (For much more about its recent history and Mell’s approach to vinification, consult the introductions to my accounts of its 2014s and 2015s.)

From Pfalz Riesling 2016: Restraint Rewarded (Jun 2018) by David Schildknecht

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2015 Spätburgunder Königsbacher Ölberg Hart Grosses Gewächs

Release Price: $134

Color: Red

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Bassermann-Jordan

2015 Spätburgunder Königsbacher Ölberg Hart Grosses Gewächs

2016 Sauvignon Blanc Fumé S trocken

2016 Chardonnay S trocken

2016 Weisser Burgunder S trocken

2016 Weisser Burgunder Deidesheimer Langenmorgen Grosses Gewächs

2016 Riesling trocken

2016 Riesling Forster trocken

2016 Riesling Deidesheimer trocken

2016 Riesling Deidesheimer feinherb

2016 Riesling Deidesheimer Kieselberg trocken

2016 Riesling Forster Ungeheuer Ziegler trocken

2016 Riesling auf der Mauer trocken

2016 Riesling Deidesheimer Hohenmorgen Grosses Gewächs

2016 Riesling Deidesheimer Kalkofen Grosses Gewächs

2016 Riesling Forster Ungeheuer Grosses Gewächs

2016 Riesling Forster Pechstein Grosses Gewächs

2016 Riesling Forster Jesuitengarten Grosses Gewächs

2016 Riesling Forster Freundstück Grosses Gewächs

2016 Riesling Forster Kirchenstück Grosses Gewächs

2016 Riesling Deidesheimer Paradiesgarten Kabinett

2016 Riesling Forster Jesuitengarten Spätlese

2016 Goldmuskateller Auslese

2016 Goldmuskateller Eiswein

2016 Weisser Burgunder Beerenauslese

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