2016 Riesling Tobel

Like his Wagram neighbor and fellow biodynamic convert Karl Fritsch, Fritz Salomon struggled in the early stages of vintage 2016; but he had considerably less luck or success in that endeavor, losing well over half of a normal crop. Things got off to a rocky start thanks to frost, and the encouragement Salomon felt once it was clear that there would be considerable secondary growth was dashed when its attempt to flower fell right in the midst of one of the rainiest periods. The upshot was that no second crop materialized, only the fruit from those buds which had escaped the frost – and run the gauntlet of peronospora. One conspicuous consequence of this crop reduction is that Salomon’s 2016s feature levels of alcohol on a par with those of his 2015s, albeit still moderate not to mention unobtrusive. A more significant consequence – as my notes reveal – is that, in Salmon’s words, “those few bunches possessed strong self-expression [Ausdruckskraft].”

When I tasted with Salomon in early September, 2017 not even his entry-level Grüner Veltliner had been bottled – a yet more rigorous application of his recent guiding principle: “to give my wines the time they need to ripen before I offer them.” My recent experience has demonstrated the frequency with which those wines, once bottled, demand some time to reveal their personalities. So on this occasion I have jumped-ahead and relied on September, 2018 tasting notes on the site-specific vintage 2016 whites. (I have not re-tasted Salomon’s vintage 2016 Chardonnays since bottling and shall report on them at some later date.) Numerous Salomon wines, incidentally, are nowadays being bottled unfiltered – an approach increasingly feasible thanks to longer élevage – and these now bear an insignia with the legend “Unfiltriert – Kellerfrisch.” (For details concerning this estate, its vineyards, practices and recent history, readers are invited to consult the extended introductions to my report on its 2013s and 2015s.)