WTN: 2008 Wiltinger Braunfels Riesling, van Volxem, Saar

The last two years we have been fortunate to have Grosser Ring, the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer division of VDP, visiting us in Stockholm. Among the most memorable wines during both years have been those of van Volxem. Just like the impressive owner (he is tall, probably towering a bit more than 2m, around 7 feet above the ground) Roman Niewodniczanski (Niwo for short) who was there to present his wines, these wines have a personality of their own. Together with some of my Riesling-loving friends we managed to have a few cases of van Volxem's wines shipped to Sweden. Time now to open the first and cheapest (EUR 14.50+1.33 postage) of my bottles today.

WTN: 2008 Wiltinger Braunfels Riesling, van Volxem, Saar
Almost golden colour, surprisingly deep for such a young wine.
Deep and distinctly mineral nose with green apples and just a touch of roses. Mineral, almost salty. Distinctly Riesling but very far from the flowery archetype of Mosel Rieslings.
Dry and powerful attack. A fine-structured acidity with is wonderfully balanced, not by any residual sugar but by the deep mineral mouthfeel. The minerality is thick and chewable, slightly bitter and salty. A deep rather ripe fruit with a hint of peaches is with some success trying to peak above the minerality. A long chewable aftertaste, showing great concentration and lovely balance. That impression of minerals just goes on and on. This is really good stuff. I gather van Volxhems more expensive wines have even more concentration and deeper minerality, but before tasting them, I am very impressed by the balance of this one and do not long for anything more than what I get here. This wine is great with today's dinner (arctic char with fresh asparagus (asparagi?) and oysters today) but also very nice for sipping before and after the dinner.

I am so happy I bought this wine. I also look very much forward to our planned wine walk in the Saar district this summer, with visits to most of the famous names, including van Volxem.

Cheers,
Anders

Sounds delicious, thank you for the note Anders. As much as I love Van Volxem's wines, I've never yet had the fortune to taste one of his Braunfels bottlings (the only one I acquired - the 02 - was brutally corked). That said the wines certainly are unique and quite different (I've heard a few others parallel them with Wachau Smaragds, though I find these more floral and lighter on their feet) with a style of their own.
I have really enjoyed some of his 08s, particularly the Wawerner Goldberg and the Saar Alte Reben Riesling (the latter a truly stunning value), with only the Volz bottling disappointing me so far.

Thanks, Salil, delicious it was indeed. I can understand the comparison with Wachau Smaragd, mainly for the similar minerality, but I must point out that this wine, although surprisingly dense and tasty, only had 11.5 % abv, while the Smaragds often have 14% or more (although the legal minimum is 12.5%).
Below, I include a pic of the bottle.

Braunfelsrs20.jpg

Cheers,
Anders