2009 - Eitelsbacher Karthauserhofberg Riesling Auslese Nr37, Karthauserhof

Destined for auction, the 2009 Eitelsbacher Karthauserhofberg Riesling Auslese Nr. 37 (A.P. #12) seemingly picks up where it’s A.P. #11 sibling left off, with extroverted mango, almost overripe Persian melon, quince, and decadent lily – plus an emerging hint of white raisin – informing a heady bouquet and a glossy, opulent, drippingly sappy, superficially sweet palate, leading to a long, luscious, extravagantly rich if in not especially intriguing or refreshing finish. I would personally wait at least a decade for this bottling to shed some sense of sweetness; then anticipate having at least a further decade a satisfaction. Christoph Tyrell's and his young cellarmaster Christian Vogt harvested almost throughout the second half of October, with the exception of what was left for a December Eiswein harvest under prolonged frigid conditions that Tyrell described as "unbelievably easy and leisurely … and the best in the history of our estate," an assessment from which there will unsurprisingly be some dissent, starting with that registered in my tasting note! While Tyrell emphasized to me the extent of the October 27 rain on the Ruwer, he reported having brought in 95% of his fruit before then. He has dropped a few wines and tweaked his line-up, more in terms of nomenclature than in any substantive way, in order to more closely conform to the generic-village-cru "pyramid" and attendant conventions envisioned as a classificatory model by the VDP (even though every wine here comes from the family's "great growth" monopole Eitelsbacher Karthauserhofberg). The old Pradikat terms and wine names familiar from the estate will continue to appear on the "official" – otherwise known as "back" – labels, while the new nicknames (or the symbol used by the VDP to designate so-called Erste Lagen or Grosse Gewachse) appear on the colorful neck labels, which as most devotees of German Riesling know, were for most of its twentieth century history the sole labels used by this estate.