- Beiträge: 1535
- Bilder: 199
- Registriert: Di 23. Nov 2010, 20:21
Hier ein paar Anmerkungen von David Schildknecht/WA zum dt. Jahrgang 2010 am Freitag im Parker-Board:
For any tuning into this thread for information on 2010 I'd just like to repeat the "big picture" scenario I posted already months ago. There are two things that can be stated with total confidence about 2010 even before one starts tasting any wine (and I shall as usual not start tasting the new vintage until I arrive in Germany sometime at the end of the summer), things that unfortunately conflict with one another for all of us as consumers:
1) The crop is among the smallest in many years, so the wines will sell out quickly (at least, ex cellar).
2) Due to the extreme conditions - in particular ...
a) the extremely late harvest
b) the enormously high acidity and for most growers consequent de-acidification of at least some wines according to any number of quite different scenarios
b) the botrytis wild card (there having been a lot of rot, expecially at the end)
it will inevitably be later in the calendar year before one can determine which wines have most successfully met the challenges of a unprecedented (or nearly so) vintage, and what tastes disjointed (or excellent) in Spring stands a higher-than-usual likelihood of tasting harmonious (or disjointed) by the end of the Summer.
A wine picked in November is after all around 20% younger in mid Spring than one picked in accord with the last quarter-century's norms, independent of what sort of wine it is.
Wines with extreme acidity generally need more time on the lees and more time in bottle to settle down. On the other hand, wines that have been de-acidified not only can sometimes have periods of early disharmony*; they can also sometimes be flattering early on and start tasting flat or disjointed later.
And the "wild card" is just that. In addition to which, high sugars, botryits, and low pH all inhibit fermentation.
* This could be observed with 2010 Austrian whites - which I just finished tasting and on which I'll be writing up my notes next month - in those instances where some lots were allowed to go through malo and then blended back as a means of moderating acidity. It takes time when two or more quite different lots are being married in this way before you know whether the consequences will be entirely happy. That said, I expect the percentage of German Riesling growers who elected a 2010 scenario involving malo-lactic fermentation to be smaller than that among Austrians.
Grüße aus Berlin,
Martin Zwick
http://www.berlinkitchen.com
For any tuning into this thread for information on 2010 I'd just like to repeat the "big picture" scenario I posted already months ago. There are two things that can be stated with total confidence about 2010 even before one starts tasting any wine (and I shall as usual not start tasting the new vintage until I arrive in Germany sometime at the end of the summer), things that unfortunately conflict with one another for all of us as consumers:
1) The crop is among the smallest in many years, so the wines will sell out quickly (at least, ex cellar).
2) Due to the extreme conditions - in particular ...
a) the extremely late harvest
b) the enormously high acidity and for most growers consequent de-acidification of at least some wines according to any number of quite different scenarios
b) the botrytis wild card (there having been a lot of rot, expecially at the end)
it will inevitably be later in the calendar year before one can determine which wines have most successfully met the challenges of a unprecedented (or nearly so) vintage, and what tastes disjointed (or excellent) in Spring stands a higher-than-usual likelihood of tasting harmonious (or disjointed) by the end of the Summer.
A wine picked in November is after all around 20% younger in mid Spring than one picked in accord with the last quarter-century's norms, independent of what sort of wine it is.
Wines with extreme acidity generally need more time on the lees and more time in bottle to settle down. On the other hand, wines that have been de-acidified not only can sometimes have periods of early disharmony*; they can also sometimes be flattering early on and start tasting flat or disjointed later.
And the "wild card" is just that. In addition to which, high sugars, botryits, and low pH all inhibit fermentation.
* This could be observed with 2010 Austrian whites - which I just finished tasting and on which I'll be writing up my notes next month - in those instances where some lots were allowed to go through malo and then blended back as a means of moderating acidity. It takes time when two or more quite different lots are being married in this way before you know whether the consequences will be entirely happy. That said, I expect the percentage of German Riesling growers who elected a 2010 scenario involving malo-lactic fermentation to be smaller than that among Austrians.
Grüße aus Berlin,
Martin Zwick
http://www.berlinkitchen.com
"Ein Leben ohne Riesling ist zwar möglich, aber sinnlos!"