One the days during our six-days wine-walk along the Saar river, we took the cars to Neumagen-Dhron, a small city by the Mosel river that claims to be the oldest wine city in Germany. In Neumagen one can admire the old "wine ship" in stone that is from the Roman age.
After a short walk form central Neumagen, we arrived to Weingut A.J. Adam in the adjacent hamlet of Dhron, where we were greeted by the young Alexander Adam who gave us a very nice tasting of their fine wines.
Alexander's grandfather stopped making wine in 1980 and then the family made no wine until 2001. Now they have got 3.2 hectare under production and plans to increase the area to 5 ha. Most of the vineyards are on the Dhron side of the Mosel (the right side), but in 2009 they bought a parcel with very old, terraced vineyards in the famous Goldtröpfchen vineyard in Piesport, right across the river. The soil in this vineyard is the classic, thin-flaked, grey Mosel slate, while the Hofberg has thicker lumps of less decomposed slate. Later that day, we walked below that vineyard, at least I think this was the one:
We started from the top, at least for a lover of dry Rieslings like me, since we were privileged to get a preview of his two Grosses Gewächse from 2009, that, according to the rules of the VdP are not to be released until the 1st September. Since 2009 they bought a parcel in Piesporter Goldtröpfchen and thus make two GG from this vintage.
2009 (Piesporter) Goldtröpfchen Riesling GG
A bit closed and dusty but deep and dense with ripe fruit. Canned peaches.
In the mouth again there is the thick, ripe, oily fruit. Chewable. the deliciously fresh acidity is embedded in the thick, almost salty minerality (sorry , Sue, I just can't describe it in any other way than a sense of minerality...). Long and peppery, very mineral aftertaste. A mighty wine. Impressive, if not immediately charming, but with an immense potential for the future.
2009 (Dhroner) Hofberg Riesling GG
The immediate impression is of much fresher fruit than the Goldtröpfchen. Spicy with fresh notes of pineapple and roses. Clean and pure with a lovely depth of the fruit.
Lovely fresh and spicy attack. Great, fresh and very Riesling-y acidity. Chewable taste with growing minerality. Some bitterness that I'd guess came from the alcohol was growing into the taste. Long, fresh and peppery aftertaste with the minerals domination after a while when the fruit had subsided. Lovely wine too, in a more fruit-driven style than the previous one.
2009 Dhroner Riesling (Estate Riesling made from young vines in the Hofberg)
Spicy Riesling nose with apples, citrus and roses.
Fresh, dry and spicy attack. Clean, fresh acidity. A little lean to taste after the two GGs but nevertheless a good wine with good, clean Riesling fruit. Residual sugar 9 g/l
2009 Hofberg Riesling feinherb
Deeper, more evidently charming fruit, as is often the case with the extra sugar of a feinherb (this one has 18 g/l sugar).
Fresh, off-dry, clean attack with charming, slightly juicy fruitiness. Lovely sugar/acid balance. Maybe a touch too easy to like, but what the heck - why not just drink it and love it?
2009 Drhon Hofberg Riesling Kabinett
The nose has the fresh and clean fruit that we learned is the hallmark of the 2009 in the Mosel. Ripe sweet apples and citrus mingle with an incredibly charming scent of roses. Lovely!
The initial taste is again this incredibly clean fruitiness supported by a marvellous acidity. A grapey sweetness that almost has a hard time to get through the acidity (9 g/l) and the fruit in spite of weighing in at 70 g/l. Deliciously clean and refreshing aftertaste. Wonderful play between the sweetness and the acidity. Quite simply a great Kabinett and also a great buy for less than 10 EUR. The best Kabinett we tasted during the fine week wandering through the vineyards.
2009 Drhon Hofberg Riesling Spätlese
This wine could simply be described as made in the same mould as the Kabinett, though, as expected, of course fuller, with sweeter, riper fruit and with impressions of sweet peaches, honey and linden-blossom. A lovely acidity was playing with the sweetness in the mouth in a lovely way together with a little spiciness. The aftertaste maybe a bit on the sweeter side, but with the fine acidity there to balance the impression of sweetness. Not very much more residual sugar than the Kabinett, 95 g/l, but a slightly lower acidity of 8.6 g/l gives a sweeter impression.
2009 Drhon Hofberg Riesling Auslese
Thick and dense, voluptuous fruit. Peaches, apricots, honey and some smokiness giving an impression of some Botrytis.
Fresh, clean and sweetish attack. Lovely, chewable, ripe fruit and a refreshing acidity. Long, smoky, spicy aftertaste. Classy with the lovely 2009 fruit.
Great wines from a producer I had heard quite a deal about, in particular here at WLDG, but never before encountered.
From Adam we walked on the bridge across the river to follow the left side of the Mosel to our next visit, Reinhold Haart in Piesport, but that is another story...
Cheers,
Anders
