WTN:Merkelbach Ürziger Würzgarten Spätlese(?) '06

A.P.Nr 2 602 055 014 07
Rich and savory pineapple and papaya fruit, pear, spicy cardamom and lemon grass. The slate mineral is fine, there is noticeable botrytis, and this is the creamiest ’06 MSR riesling I’ve yet tasted. It is also among the most delicious (and affordable.) As for Spätlese, well... I understand there to be two different submissions for this wine, and I can’t imagine this bottle being from anything other than the declassified Auslese bottling. I’d love to hear other impressions. 10,5% alc. $18

[David M. Bueker]

Merkelbach frequently makes multiple batches of a particular pradiakt & rarely blends the different casks (they use the big, old fuders). So you will often see different AP numbers of the same wine.

As for auslese in your spatlese - most every spatlese sold by a reputable estate in '06 is actually auslese. It was a vintage of high ripeness & solid acidity, though some wines flirt with heaviness.

We probably have to get away from the idea of "declassification" as in the age of our hot, hot, hot planet there's a new normal & wines a pradikat highr than the stated label are pretty much that normal.

hi bill,

vintages like 2006 show the limit of a sugar-level based characterization of wines (i don't claim that there is a better system, just to make thing clear - it is a case of the least worst system).

all grapes came in at auslese level. bottling only auslese is an option that few estates have (market demands regularity in the types of wines even if you stretch the content to match the label ... if you can't provide them, someone else will). so you are left with playing with the level of alcohol. a higher level of alcohol means lower residual sugar and hence can make the wine "pass" as spätlese ... 10.5% alcohol is really too high for the moselle but with the right acidity, it will make a good auslese "sehr halbtrocken" ... or in other words, a spätlese on steroids.

i reassure you tough - 2007 is back to "very good" normal - freshness, zest and fruitiness.

Merkelbach certainly isn't alone in making such '2006' super-pradikat wines. I was mostly wondering if anyone had tasted the earlier bottling (which I don't think is quite AS 'Auslese') or the actual Ürziger Würzgarten Auslese (which was also produced) to see how the wines compared with this A.P.Nr submission.

Thanks,
Bill