Gernot Kollmann jokingly started off his description of the 2014 vintage by “rain? Which rain? There was no rain” before providing the details on how he handled the difficult harvest conditions: “We got rained out as everybody else, but the amount we had was significantly lower than just a few miles upriver. Also, my vineyards withheld the rain much better than others, no doubt thanks to the old vines but also, I am convinced, thanks to the fact that our soils are hardly fed and hence poor in nitrogen. Still, there were unclean grapes in our vineyards too. We started our harvest on October 8, i.e. just after the big rain of October 6-7, which means that we had to select, select and select throughout the whole harvest. This not only wore our harvest teams out, it also put a huge dent into my yields. In the end, we only got 21 hl/ha out of our own vineyards! We tried to harvest during good days only, so that we completed the harvested on October 25. Thanks to the selections and despite the botrytis, the grapes came in with sugar levels at the usual 88-94° Oechsle levels in our top parcels.”After a reduced portfolio in 2013, the Estate was able to produce its full portfolio of wines again in 2014, including a Steffensberg (which went into the Escheburg in 2013). Except for the CAI, which was bottled on May 15, all wines were bottled late as usual, this year on August 21.
On the news front, the Estate just acquired some prime parcels, including the parcel from the Bergrettung project of the Klitzekleiner Ring, in the less known Trabener Zollturm, a steep hill west-facing vineyard just upriver to the Trabener Gaispfad. The full story of this exciting revival is covered in a separate article at the end of this Issue.
The 2014 collection by Gernot Kollmann is quite a success! The wines develop a delicately more tropical side but retain the gripping fascination, balance and structure which have made the success of the Estate. The Ellergrub 2014 is a clear candidate for dry-tasting wine of the vintage and a must have for any lover of great Riesling. But the rest of the collection is simply superb. In addition, the 2013 Batterieberg (which we did not have the chance to taste last year as the wine was still fermenting) proves a huge success and one of (if not) the best ever! All in all, this Estate rocks.
| 2014er | Immich-Batterieberg | Enkircher Ellergrub Riesling | 05 15 | 94 |
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This delivers a stunning nose of cassis, ginger and grapefruit as well as some floral nuances and yellow fruits. The wine is loaded with flavors and mineral grip on the palate and the finish is airy, complex but also still quite primary at this stage, with the underlying grapefruit and ginger still dominated by herbs and smoke. But the overall balance, finesse and elegance is staggering. This needs bottle age but should then prove a cracker of a dry Riesling. What a great wine in the making! 2019-2029+ |
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| 2013er | Immich-Batterieberg | Enkircher Batterieberg Riesling | 06 14 | 93 |
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This offers a superb nose of cassis, ginger and fine herbs. The wine is lively and crisp, yet packed with deliciously complex and fresh flavors of minty herbs, white minerals and grapefruit infused fruits. This is a gorgeous wine in the making, which should prove irresistibly complex and refined at maturity. 2018-2028 |
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| 2014er | Immich-Batterieberg | Enkircher Batterieberg Riesling | 06 15 | 92 |
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This deep-yellow colored wine delivers a tropical nose of passion fruit, grilled pineapple, spices and herbs. The wine is still full of grip on the palate, where the high level of dry extracts accentuate the scents of ginger bread spices. The finish is still sharp yet focused, with telltale notes of ginger and white flowers adding a fresh and airy side to the tropical fruits. This is a gorgeously complex wine in the making! 2019-2029 |
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| 2014er | Immich-Batterieberg | Enkircher Steffensberg Riesling | 03 15 | 91 |
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The Steffensberg is made solely from over 60 years-old un-grafted vines. Fermented fully dry (at 2 g/l of residual sugar), the 2014 Steffensberg offers a gorgeously fresh nose of greengage and herbs, with the telltale hint of tangerine only gradually coming through. The wine is nicely balanced on the palate, with some creamy fruits dancing with a subtle touch of acidity. The finish is packed with mineral-driven flavors. This only needs a little bit of bottle aging to integrate its exuberant side. It should then prove rather irresistible. 2019-2029 |
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| 2014er | Immich-Batterieberg | Enkircher Zeppwingert Riesling | 04 15 | 90+ |
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Rather yellow-hay in color, this develops quite tropical scents of backed mango paired with almond and greengage. The wine is full of grip and minerals on the palate yet the finish is spicy and leaves one with a fascinating feel of ginger bread. This will gain in focus and precision with bottle age and could ultimately surprise us all! 2019-2029 |
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| 2014er | Immich-Batterieberg | Riesling Kabinett C.A.I. | 01 15 | 89+ |
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The C.A.I. bottling is essentially made from purchased grapes (including from Wiltingen, Oberemmel, Wolf and Dhron) as well as from the Estate’s holdings in the lower and flatter part of the Batterieberg. Fermented fully dry (with less than 1 g/l of residual sugar), this offers a gorgeously complex nose of almond, ripe peach, brown sugar, spices and herbs. The wine is superbly balanced on the palate, even if still mainly driven by minerals at this early stage, and the finish shows already style and class. This is a really gorgeous wine in the making! 2016-2022+ |
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| 2014er | Immich-Batterieberg | Riesling Escheburg | 02 15 | 89 |
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The Riesling Escheburg (named after the original name of the Estate) is made from de-classified fruit from the Estate’s grafted holdings in Enkirch. The 2014 version is fully dry (it has less than 2 g/l of residual sugar) and delivers lovely and complex scents of passion fruit, star fruit, orchard fruit and ginger, immersed into some spicy smoky herbs and brown sugar. The wine is nicely balanced on the palate, with a hint of fragrance and rosewater coming through in the finish. This is already very easy to enjoy now and should remain so for a decade or more. Now-2024 |
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