2015 Riesling Ürziger Würzgarten Kabinett

Robert Eymael and the Christoffel team eschewed leaf removal in early summer 2015, “but not,” Eymael reported candidly, “as a matter of strategy, but simply because we couldn’t get around to it.” Given the heat and drought that followed, they were glad they hadn’t, since quite a few Ürzig and Erden neighbors’ crops were significantly trimmed by sunburn. “Everything got very ripe,” noted Eymael, “even what was bottled as Kabinett, but the material was almost entirely clean and botrytis-free,” which explains the absence of any BA or TBA. Treppchen ripened a little ahead of Würzgarten, Eymael reported, and with marginally lower acidity, but the finished acids (other than in a generic bottling) only begin at around nine grams. As usual, the wines were all bottled in early spring, and continue a recent trend toward significant diminution in the number of individual bottlings. Whether or not you are one of those who harbor doubts about the now long-standing relationship between Christoffel and Eymael upholding the quality standards previously associated with Weingut Joh. Jos. Christoffel, I defy you to savor this 2015 collection without being delighted and encouraged. (For a great deal of background about Hans-Leo Christoffel’s family estate and his collaboration with Robert Eymael, consult the introduction to my report on the Christoffel 2014s.)