2015 Riesling Hochäcker

It’s a pleasure to witness the form and consistency to which Martin Nigl and his wines seem to have returned since 2013. Given the polish and focus that characterize most of his efforts from the very warm 2015 vintage, it’s tempting to speculate that Nigl won’t be repeating any blowsy or rough bottlings such as cropped up periodically in his collections beginning around the new millennium. When those issues arose, it was because Nigl felt his fruit needed more hang time, and a price was paid in botrytis and attendant high alcohol. Nigl’s Hochäcker plateau and relatively deep-soiled terraces with mature vines in Pellingen managed, with judicious irrigation, to carry a significant share of his crop, particularly his Riesling, stress-free through the summer of 2015. Nevertheless, he assured me that by the time he was ready to pick his top 2015s, which wasn’t until late October and early November (Riesling picking didn’t even commence until mid-October), he was confronted by significant botrytis. Given the quality of the resulting collection, he evidently succeeded in culling it sufficiently. Another result was below-normal overall yields. (For details concerning this estate’s vineyards, practices and recent history, readers are invited to consult the extended introduction to my report on its 2013s.)