2018 Grüner Silvaner trocken

As noted in the introduction to this report, for the second year running, hail – this time on June 1 – savaged the Morstein and Brunnenhäuschen (i.e., including Abtserde) vineyards. But to the extent that it was possible to abstract from such a misfortune, the 2018 vintage proved entirely to Klaus Peter Keller’s liking. Given what he assessed as the rude good health of harmoniously ripe fruit, though, he elected not to attempt any Spätlese or nobly sweet Riesling, and I have not had an opportunity to taste his 2018 Rieslaner Auslese (which, in keeping with the proclivities of that grape as well as of the vintage, will almost certainly have been rendered from entirely rot-free clusters).

Keller’s practice of leaving vine foliage substantially intact to shade not just the evolving clusters but to a significant extent even the surrounding ground – an approach whose aggressive pursuit in those Nierstein parcels intended to produce Kabinett has since been extended to other Keller vineyards – proved well suited to compensating for the relentless sunshine and high temperatures of summer 2018. Keller is convinced that deferring or even entirely omitting any hedging of the vine tips triggers hormonal signaling in the plant that diverts energy away from the formation of clusters, leaving them loose and eventually favorable to flavor development at the expense of sugar accumulation. And these aspects of vine management are likely among the reasons why Keller’s 2018s reflect both ripe flavors at modest levels of potential alcohol and ample, not to mention highly efficacious acidity. That having been said, two harvest passes destined for the same wine were frequently made on any given parcel, the first primarily to boost eventual acidity.

Keller was also keen on emphasizing the significance of old vines for producing balanced wines from a potentially stressful growing season. “That was just really important in 2018,” he opined, adding that his estate now boasts the oldest vines in each of the major Einzellagen it farms. Old vines naturally also conduce to relatively low yields, and in general Keller attempts to prune and otherwise manage his crops so that green harvest is unnecessary. Amazingly, despite 2018’s proclivity for generous set and juice-to-skin ratio, Keller reported having ended up with less fruit weight per vine from his Nierstein vineyards than he had gotten in 2017. There are some parcels of young vines at this estate, but Keller says that in 2018 he didn’t utilize fruit from any that are five years of age or younger “because you could taste the youthful energy, but not the flavors that we want.” Another by now familiar Keller theme is the value of slow basket pressing, and he now has two machines to supply a combination of flavor purity, clarity and a distinct sort of positive phenolic extraction, none of which he thinks are quite achievable using any other approach.

In 2017, as usual, Keller was enormously successful with Pinot Noir as well as with Riesling. But I have included notes on only two of his three Pinots, because beginning with the 2017 vintage he has elected to hold back release of his Morstein Spätburgunder – and, accordingly, also its presentation – for an additional year. The vines in Dalsheim and Nieder-Flörsheimer were spared the August 25 hail that in 2017 devastated vineyards in Westhofen; even so, the overall crop of Pinot was small even by estate standards. In its combination of concentrated ripeness and brightness, for Pinot 2017 reminds Keller of 2010 – a high compliment in his book. Given the ideal ripeness and health of the fruit, he elected to retain in his ferments a higher-than-usual percentage of intact clusters. (On Keller’s unique recent approach with the stems of Pinot Noir, see my review of his 2016 Frauenberg Spätburgunder. For extended accounts of recent developments at this estate, including Keller’s evolving approach in the vineyards and cellar as well as to bottling and marketing, consult the introductions to my accounts of his 2014–2017 collections. Some details concerning individual sites will be found sprinkled throughout my tasting notes, but especially in those concerning Keller’s vintage 2014 whites and vintage 2013 Pinot Noirs that were my first such published with Vinous.)