Issuing from old vines in especially finely morcellated slate, this is the latest Richter exploration of radically low-must weight and correspondingly delicate Kabinett. Picked at just 77 Oechsle, it boasts what for the vintage, not to mention for the Richters’ collection, is a remarkably high 9.8 grams of acidity. Lemon, lime and white peach on the nose translate into bracingly bright, generous juiciness on a firm, delicate palate. Subtly smoky, bitter-sweet nutty undertones and a vivid sense of crushed stone suffusion serve to balance and buffer the animating acidity – conveying a suggestion of richness that is uncanny given this wine’s analysis – as do a perfectly judged 38 grams of residual sugar. The bell-clear, vibrant finish conveys penetrating persistence and complexity, not to mention eye-opening invigoration and consummate refreshment. I’ll be surprised if this does not age terrifically. Richter – in common with some of his lightness-obsessed colleagues like Julian Haart and Ulli Stein – believes that old ungrafted vines are critical to rendering a complete and complex Riesling at such low potential alcohol, but he also emphasizes the significance of site. “If I had picked my really old vines in Wehlener Sonnenuhr at 77 Oechsle,” he averred, “I would have had to do so earlier, and my impression is that the flavors would have been too green.” (“Fuder 4” is simply a nickname by which the Richters have chosen to distinguish their radically delicate non-dry Juffer Kabinett from its otherwise eponymous sibling. The primary, presentation label simply displays a large “4.”)
January 2018