With the Barthelme’ 2009 Riesling Furstentum we cross into territory that is distinctly sweet – if surprisingly subtly so, given 20 grams r.s. – which however nicely supports tangerine and apple fruit that lead to a lusciously juicy, seemingly salt-, and stone-tinged finish. There is a spicy, musky aura from botrytis but fortunately it doesn’t block the expression of juicy fruit. I suspect this already enticing Riesling will be best enjoyed within the next 6-8 years. Although Maurice and Jacky Barthelme continued to pick their 2009 Rieslings into October and achieved satisfyingly ripe flavors, they did so without suffering high alcohol or unbalanced sweetness. Unsurprisingly (whether or not verifiably), they implicate the accumulated experience and effects of a biodynamic regimen in these results. Equally importantly, the levels of acidity in their 2009 Rieslings are ample and efficacious. With Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer, they were forced to discharge high must weights in the form of almost universally high residual sugar, with attractive if seldom distinguished results. The Mann 2008s are characterized by particularly concentrated and positively efficacious acidity, all of the Rieslings weighing-in at what on paper might look like an excessive 9 grams or more. Not only have the Barthelme brothers been together now for 21 vintages – to me it still seems like yesterday that I “discovered” their 1988s – but they point out that most of their present crew has been together for nearly a decade, which is bound to have been instrumental in their having been able to repeatedly expand into new vineyards without sacrificing the highest standards, not to mention with their enthusiasm still youthful.Importer: Weygandt-Metzler, Unionville, PA; tel. (610) 486-0800

In a dramatic contrast with its Schlossberg sibling, the Barthelme’s 2007 Riesling Furstentum harbors 26 grams of residual sugar, which Maurice Barthelme explains in terms of the slow ripening in this site. Effusive aromas of heliotrope and of pink grapefruit and tangerine with their zesty pungency are joined on a lush, subtly oily palate by ripe peach. This finishes scintillatingly as well as less obviously sweet than its analysis would lead you to expect, in part due to efficacious acidity backing the impression of citricity, but also because of a tactile, chalk-dust like mineral suggestion as emphatic in its way as the striking family of mineral flavors that etch their way onto the palate in the Schlossberg. Expect 15-20 years of outstanding performance from this wine, which in its way is as unevolved as its bone-dry sibling. To say that Maurice and Jacky Barthelme are bullish on their 2007s would be an understatement, as they seem to think that this is their best collection going all the way back to the wonderful 1988s with which they debuted in the U.S. (and a number of which I am still enjoying). Since they have been among those Alsace vintners most concerned with restraining sugar accretion while promoting ripe flavors, it’s understandable that they view 2007 as having been especially welcome when compared with other very recent vintages. “In September there was just enough rain; in October no rain; November was wonderful,” comments Jacky Barthelme, “so, we had time to harvest and to select.” Barthelmes were also among those growers who sold off a portion of their 2006 crop in bulk and declassified portions into generic bottlings, but the resulting bottlings are among the finest of that vintage, for which the brothers in part – unsurprisingly – credit biodynamic preparations and fruit that could be picked ripe early. My laudatory reviews of the (for this estate typically) outstanding value Mann Auxerrois Vieilles Vignes and Pinot Blanc bottlings of vintage 2007 can be found in issue 178.Importer: Weygandt-Metzler, Unionville, PA; tel. (610) 486-0800