Here we have the fresh bottled Ortswein/Village wine from Bürklin-Wolf. Its based on young vines of the Forster Top-vineyards. First the famous spicy&smoky perfume based on volcanic basalt rock. Then we have a lot of yellow fruits on the palate which will develop to a salty grapefruit over 3-4 days. Again, we have the signature of 2019 which is balance, energy and extract. Also a very vivid acidity, Robert Dentice will love it. In addition despite its youth you could taste as a kind of snapshot a promising length&depth and a distinct salty finish.
I would recommend to open a bottle right now and drink over 3-4-5 days. Second bottle in 5 years and 3rd bottle in 10 years. The Rieslings of Bürklin-Wolf are famous for its long-aging potential, I remember outstanding Rieslings like 1999 Pechstein GC, 2004 Kirchenstück GC etc. For your info, the estate use the Burgundy standard like GC for GG, also PC and Village for Ortswein. Since 2004 bio-dynamic. Fair to say this Village Riesling has a high price for a Ortswein even in Germany, around 25 Euro. On the other hand due to the high prices in general of the estate, this 2019er could be almost seen as a bargain. I will definitely buy a case.
Bottom-line, the vintage 2019 truly deserve all the praise.
Thanks for the note! I enjoyed the 2013 quite a bit - somewhat different in style to the single vineyards since it saw only steel (no idea if that is still the case) but highly promising with great tension. I think I just might buy some of the 2019 too.
I have been debating whether or not to offer the 2019 PC wines, as the tariffs make expensive wines in the US even more expensive. They are consistently of the finest dry Rieslings in Germany, and many of the PCs offer arguably the best values in the range, as the GCs have gotten very expensive. It is a tough call…
Are any retailers, wholesalers, importers, etc., buying or reserving or whatever 2019s from German producers but delaying shipments into the US until next year in hopes that Biden is elected and the tariffs go away?
I can’t speak for the entire US, Howard.
I imagine that there are some folks holding the wines in bond in Europe or the US, waiting for the tariffs to pass.
Bear in mind that even with a change in government next January, any tariff changes have to go through the Federal Register process, likely meaning no change until next summer at the earliest.
P.S. I had 2017 Bürklin-Wolf “Forster” in the last 3 days. Stunning! An impressive mix of power&minerality&spice and juicy fruit. In addition a long life ahead. BUY
Semi related question to this thread. Do older dry Bürklin-Wolfs take an extremely long time to open? I bought a bunch of 2005, 2003 and 1999 and have opened a couple and they seem either completely closed or heat damaged.
2019 Dr. Bürklin-Wolf Riesling Forst Riesling Village- Germany, Pfalz (1/6/2021)
Crisp, precise and with excellent length, this dry Riesling offers excellent value. There is significant depth, so it should age very well, allowing additional complexity to emerge after the youthful fruit backs off just a bit. Very happy to have picked up six bottles.
We are having the '19s show up in distribution now. The Forst is not available to us. But we sampled a few last night including the estate trocken, Gaisböl and the Blend. All excellent, with the Gaisböl clearly too early to fully enjoy. Yes, the pricing is a challenge. At the lower end, it may be tolerable but the PC/GC are sehr teuer