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Josef Spreitzer

It is nearing twenty years since Bernhard Spreitzer passed the reins to his sons Andreas und Bernd (though dad is still very much involved), and that period has witnessed the evolution of a distinctive style and the achievement of quality that few Rheingau estates surpass. The sheer fruity generosity of Spreitzer wines, even the dry ones, sets them apart from the illustrious efforts of their Oestrich neighbors the Kühns, but leaves plenty of room for mineral and floral nuances. “The corridor between unripe and overripe was very narrow in 2014,” relates Andreas Spreitzer, “but in a pinch it was safer to pick a day too early than a day too late.” And that was true especially if one wanted to preserve an alcoholically light style of dry wine that to Spreitzer’s dismay the VDP insists on denigrating and for which that organization will now no longer permit the designation “Kabinett.” Surprisingly, though – considering the tendency toward levity and brightness generally exhibited by the 2014 vintage – this year’s lighter-weight dry Rieslings fell slightly short of Spreitzers’ qualitative norm. Riesling harvest was compressed into just thirteen days from September 28 to October 10, using the largest team in the estate’s history. There was no time, Spreitzers opined, for a negative pre-harvest selection. “We went through once," says Andreas. “You had to turn the clusters around and cut through them looking for trouble. There was no tolerance for botrytis. Anything that didn’t pass muster got thrown to the ground, and basta.” Speaking of botrytis, the one area in which Spreitzers’ results tend to be hit-and-miss is that of noble sweetness. An Auslese gold capsule and a T.B.A. were still in tank when I visited to taste here last September and the Spreitzers preferred not to show them to me in that state.

After a lengthy effort, in 2013 the Spreitzers succeed in having Oestricher Rosengarten, the semi-clos between their winery and the Rhine, accepted as a self-standing Einzellage. Subsequent changes described in the introduction to this report should make it much easier for them to register the name “Eiserberg,” which designates their arguably best portion of the Lenchen Einzellage and another place, like Rosengarten, with which their family has a long association. The subsuming of Oestrich’s extensive surface area and diverse micro-climates under just two Einzellagen stands as an especially ham-fisted accomplishment of Germany’s 1971 Wine Law. Seasoned observers of the Rheingau scene will note that the Spreitzers have acquired parcels recently in two new Einzellagen, Hallgartener Hendelberg and Hattenheimer Engelmannsberg. They have also added to their acreage in Oestricher Lenchen and Doosberg as well as in Mittelheimer St.-Nikolaus and the aforementioned Rosengarten, which was for generations a Spreitzer family monopole and in which they have regained a dominant share.

From 2014 Germany: Riesling Resists Rain on the Rhine (May 2016) by David Schildknecht

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2014 Riesling trocken

Color: White

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Josef Spreitzer

2014 Riesling trocken

2014 Oestricher Doosberg Riesling Kabinett trocken

2014 Oestricher Lenchen Riesling Kabinett trocken

2014 Hallgartener Hendelberg Riesling trocken

2014 Oestricher Doosberg Riesling trocken Alte Reben

2014 Hattenheimer Wisselbrunnen Riesling Grosses Gewächs

2014 Oestricher Rosengarten Riesling Grosses Gewächs

2014 Mittelheimer St. Nikolaus Riesling Grosses Gewächs

2014 Riesling Charta

2014 Winkeler Jesuitengarten Riesling Kabinett feinherb

2014 Hattenheimer Engelmannsberg Riesling feinherb

2014 Oestricher Lenchen Riesling halbtrocken Alte Reben

2014 Oestricher Lenchen Riesling Kabinett

2014 Winkeler Jesuitengarten Riesling Spätlese

2014 Oestricher Lenchen Riesling Spätlese 303

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