Apple, lemon and white peach combine for a tart-edged, phenolic and chewy but satisfyingly juicy Schonborn 2011 Winkeler Hasensprung Riesling Spatlese trocken, alkaline and fusil notes adding interest while suggesting a wine more evolved than its vintage date much less its energetic expression of acidity would suggest. Perhaps due to its later picking, this lacks the finishing focus of the better dry Kabinetts in the present collection, but it is nevertheless impressively sustained, and ought to show well through at least 2015. “This is in fact a Bergwein,” Barth is anxious to point out, meaning it comes from the (almost) “mountainous” back reaches of this Einzellage that consists of two non-contiguous pieces. In recent reports, I have ascribed the significant positive developments at Schloss Schonborn to Peter Barth, who was named “winery director of the year 2009” by the Gault Millau, wine guide within Germany. However, Baarth was dismissed by Count Paul Schonborn in autumn of 2012 after the State of Hessen brought charges against him for violations of German Wine Law based on analyses that allegedly demonstrated he had illegally concentrated musts; blended wines in ways incompatible with their labeled geographical attributions; and added distilled spirit to T.B.A.s (presumably to push them past the 5% alcohol requisite for wine). The charges involved 20 wines (Seven of them Pinots) and around 20,000 bottles, mostly from vintage 2011, all of which the winery – acting decisively, if ultimately with little choice – destroyed or has sought to buy back from trade or private owners so that they can be destroyed. As of early 2014, the case has yet to come to trial. Steffen Roll, who replaced Barth soon after the latter’s dismissal, will be responsible for a newly-assembled viticulture team as well as for wine-making, and there is little doubt among those who have observed their vineyards first hand that the level of care these received under outside management – along with their sheer vastness – was a weak point of the Schonborn estate, whether or not consequences of that weakness played any role in a temptation to transgress wine law in the cellar (which I tend to doubt). As it happens, I got an especially distressing glimpse of the estate’s rot-endangered flagship Hattenheimer Pfaffenberg and other nearby vineyards during the warm, rainy third week of September, 2011, but Barth had not yet ordered any significant picking and expressed confidence that if the rain soon stopped, he would still be able to select both healthy and botrytized bunches capable of excellence, which is exactly what happened. “Many people failed to learn the relevant lessons from 2003,” he insisted, and for that reason ended up with overly-alcoholic and acid-deficient 2011s. Among other procedures, musts were immediately pressed; rapidly and radically chilled; then rigorously settled. This is one of several Rhine estates whose lighter dry 2011s I found more expressive and better-balanced than their Grosse Gewachse. My tasting notes on this occasion reflect no experiences subsequent to Barth’s indictment for wine fraud, but I have placed a parenthetic asterisk (*) after the names of any wines I reviewed that were evidenced in those charges, and added a parenthetic note on the infraction in question. As usual given the huge extent of this estate – and even allowing for its many distinguished vineyards whose fruit informs only generic bottlings – I did not taste more than two-thirds of its vintage offerings. Importer: Rudi Wiest, Cellars International, Carlsbad, CA; tel. (800) 596 9463. Until recently, though, various importers, including Dee Vine Wines, San Francisco, CA; tel. (877) 389- 9463; Slocum & Sons, North Haven, CT; tel. (203) 239-8000, Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700, and Winesellers, Ltd., Niles, IL; tel. (847) 647-1100

At a tad over 13% alcohol, the Schonborn 2009 Winkeler Hasensprung Riesling Spatlese trocken – from a relatively well-drained, elevated, and stony portion of that Einzellage along the border with Schloss Johannisberg – displays saline and stony aspects that seem at least metaphorically to fit its location. Despite underlying leanness, there are both polished texture and a satisfying bright lemon and ripe pear to convey primary juiciness. Hints of lemon zest and radish add a brash note to the impressively persistent finish. I would tentatively anticipate this to be best drunk over the next 4-6 years. “We still need to offer our customers at least one Spatlese trocken parallel to our Erste Gewachse,” remarks director Barth, and the estates substantial and mature Hasensprung acreage lends itself to satisfying that market niche. (It appears at the very least unlikely that Schonborn will ever again undertake Spatlese trocken bottlings from sites that are simultaneously showcased as Erste Gewachse – a practice the VDP strongly discourages.) The latest collection from Peter Barth and his team further demonstrates the high standards that now prevail at this venerable estate. “The window for optimal harvest seems to keep narrowing,” Barth notes, and the relatively high finished alcohol levels on this years dry Schonborn Rieslings certainly testifies to that fact, leaving the 2008s at this address with a distinct edge over their 2009 counterparts. Despite the ravages of hail in Hattenheim and Erbach – including the loss of nearly one-third of the estates anticipated crop of Marcobrunn – the number of different bottlings from that site and from the monopole Pfaffenberg is still considerable. Various importers, including Dee Vine Wines San Francisco, CA; tel. (877) 389- 9463, Slocum & Sons, North Haven, CT; tel. 203-239-8000, Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700, Winesellers Ltd. Niles, IL; tel. (847) 647-1100