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Zilliken Forstmeister Geltz

“This was our tiniest harvest ever,” related Hanno Zilliken of vintage 2016, explaining that due to their tractor having been delayed for a day or two in the repair shop, they were too late in spraying against peronospora and lost half of their crop. But what survived that early summer ordeal unscathed, he said, hung loosely and ideally through the rest of the vintage rains and subsequent dry heat. That noted, Zilliken added that he estimates levels of malic acid were about on a par with tartaric, and of course the chilly October temperatures locked them in. Picking began in the middle of that month and stretched into the first days of November. Evidently the lack of grapes did not translate into ease of picking. “You still had to go out and find where there were still grapes hanging,” Zilliken remarked with grim humor, “and a full day’s hard work didn’t result in much fruit.” There are also fewer individual bottlings than from any Zilliken collection I can recall. While Eiswein has often been notably successful at this address, Hanno and Dorothee Zilliken were taking no chances with their meager, precious 2016 fruit, so they left nothing hanging in anticipation of frost. Of course, ironically, a deep and relatively early frost ideally suited to Eiswein did in fact transpire, on November 30. “It was still the right decision under the circumstances,” said Zilliken, “but I could kick myself for having passed up that opportunity.” Apropos of meager volume, other than the superb “Alte Reben” reviewed below, there is just one other non-site-specific 2016 Zilliken trocken – a wine I wasn’t offered to taste – and it was made possible only by contracting for fellow growers’ fruit in Saarburg and Wiltingen, most of which the Zillikens themselves harvested. I also missed out on tasting the 2016 Ockfener Bockstein Kabinett because by the time I visited here in August 2017, Hanno Zilliken couldn’t locate even a single bottle.

Incidentally, early in 2017, the Zillikens were able to acquire and plant a long-neglected block of more than a hectare in the Rausch, increasing their holdings there by nearly 15%. (For more on this justly renowned estate and its methodology, consult the introductions to my coverage of its 2014 and 2015 collections.)

From Saar & Ruwer: Beauties Despite a Bumpy 2016 (Mar 2018) by David Schildknecht

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2016 Riesling Saarburger trocken Alte Reben

Release Price: $55

Color: White

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