“Based on grapes with 50% botrytis and selected twice—in the vineyard and on a sorting table in the boutique winery—the 2019 Dhroner Hofberg Riesling Auslese * is clear and concentrated on the delicate and elegant nose that reveals fine, slatey-piquant raisin and Riesling fruit that is pure and flinty. On the palate, this is a crystalline, very fine and filigreed Auslese with a salty-piquant, precise and lemon-fresh finish. This will be a Gold Capsule next year since Adam joined the VDP earlier this year. Tasted at the domain in September 2020. 94 points
Andreas Adam is a member of the VDP starting this year, and from the 2020 vintage, he is also the producer of at least one Grosses Gewächs, maybe more. Andreas and Barbara Adams cope quite well with difficult vintages like 2019. Although the yield was only 45 hectoliters per hectare (instead of an average of 50-55 hectoliters per hectare) due to the strict post-rainfall selections, the qualities are again excellent, especially the fine and very fine Auslese selections and the Beerenauslese from the Dhroner Hofberg. Botrytis wines are not exactly the goal of the Adam siblings, but they could not be prevented last year. They even harvested an ice wine during the blood moon night on January 20 of this year. A Reserve wine from the Dhroner Hofberg from the 2018 vintage is also new. Otherwise, the other dry wines of the 2019 vintage are also excellent.“
“Scents of lime and pineapple anticipate the tangy, brash fruit presence on a firm-textured but glycerol-rich palate. Maritime salinity and crystalline stoniness make for a mouthwatering and shimmeringly complex finish whose penetrating intensity reflects the wines nearly ll grams of acidity. This bottling comes from an ungrafted 1953 planting. Drinking window: 2017-2038. 92 points
“It was not a bad vintage,” said Andreas Adam with obvious understatement. “But one had to be careful,” he added earnestly, “or the must weights could get ahead of you and then honest Kabinett would not have been possible.” Accordingly, he began his 2015 harvest on September 29 so as to capture freshness and levity, and was finished on October 22. His latest collection underscores this young vintner’s mastery of wines with efficacious but discreet sweetness such as sadly few German Riesling growers render in significant numbers outside the Saar (where one thinks immediately of Lauer and Loch), and especially not in 2015 (when, for example, Adam’s friend and regular collaborateur Julian Haart bottled wines either legally dry or overtly sweet). Unfortunately, Adam didn’t reveal to me that he’d rendered rosé in 2015 from Pinot Noir, and I found out about that wine’s existence too late to taste it. (For an extensive account of this young estate’s evolution, vineyards and methodology, please consult the introduction to my account of Adam’s 2014s as well as the accompanying tasting notes themselves. Note that the word trocken does not appear on Adam wines for which that description legally fits, so I have omitted it from those wine’s names but referenced their legal dryness in my tasting notes.)”
“The 2019 Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Furstentum Vieilles Vignes offers a clear, intense and refined bouquet of bright fruits intertwined with lemony and smoky notes. Rich and round on the palate, this is a smooth and elegant, well balanced and quiet-flowing Gewurztraminer with fine salinity and delicate bitters on the finish. Not very expansive but elegant and linear. 14% stated alcohol with 31 grams per liter of residual sugar. Natural cork. Tasted at the domaine in May 2022. Drink: 2027-2040. 92+ points”
“Medium straw-green-yellow. Ripe, musky and floral aromas of lemon drop, butter, mint, oatmeal and pomaceous orchard fruit. Sweet and juicy, with good cut and spice character; there’s nothing hard about this fresh Blanc de Morgex et La Salle. Closes with nicely persistent hints of white flowers, orange oil and resin. Makes an outstanding aperitif but is big enough to stand up to vegetable appetizers and delicately cooked freshwater fish entrées. Drinking window: 2019-2023. 92 points”
“The 2017 Barbaresco Angelo is superb. The aromatics alone are simply beguiling. Rose petal, mint, lavender, pine, orange peel and sweet red cherry give the Angelo remarkable allure. Pliant and silky on the palate, with striking resonance, the Angelo impresses from the very first taste. Its overall balance is simply remarkable. I loved it. Drinking window: 2025-2037. 95 points
This is an impressive set of 2017s from the Rocca family. The estate has been on a roll these last few vintages. Like all 2017s, the Albino Rocca Barbarescos are on the lighter side, but what stands out in the range is a level of site expression that is rare in this vintage. All of the Barbarescos are aged in cask, with the exception of the Cottà, which sees slightly smaller oak because of the tiny size of the parcel.”
“Pouring from the bottle with a light ruby color, the Albino Rocca 2018 Barbaresco Cottà shows dried cherry, cassis and lots of blue flower or summer lavender. This is a classic and neatly contained expression of cool-vintage Nebbiolo. The bouquet is fluid but also compact, and you can look forward to an interesting aromatic evolution to come as this wine continues along its aging path. Only 2,000 bottles were released. Drink: 2023-2037. 93+ points”
“The 2019 Barbaresco Ovello Vigna Loreto is fabulous. Bright and translucent, with terrific energy, the 2019 is all class. Crushed red berry fruit, rose petal and orange peel convey the purest essence of Nebbiolo classicism. White pepper, chalk and mint lend brightness to the taut, very Ovello finish. In this tasting, the 2019 is positively stellar. It saw 25-30 days on the skins followed by 20-22 months in cask. Give it a few years to soften. Drinking window: 2025-2039. 95 points
This is another set of gorgeous wines from the Rocca family. As has been the case now for some years, the wines are marked by striking translucence and tons of site character. The Barbarescos are fermented in tank and then aged in cask for about two years, the exceptions being the Cottá and the Angelo, which are vinified in oak uprights and see submerged cap maceration at the end of fermentation. Readers who have not tasted these wines recently owe it to themselves to do so, as the transformation here of late towards wines of purity and finesse is significant.”
Antonio Galloni, Vinous (10/22)
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