2013 Oestricher Lenchen Riesling Beerenauslese

After building their new tasting room last year, Bernd and Andreas Spreitzer appear to have changed a few dials in their cellar as well. Their wines have long been unpretentious, delicately graceful and eminently drinkable in their youth, but their 2013s are more fleshy and brooding. While I often thought of them as the Mosel incarnation of the Rheingau, they have almost a southern accent this year. When I spoke to Bernd about the perceived change, he said only that they wanted to give their Rieslings “a bit more structure, depth and aging potential.” The jury is still out on that latter objective, but the wines do not show the same purity and finesse at bottling that I have long admired. For that reason, I will be keen to see how they play their hand in 2014.