2019 Eva Fricke - Fineness and Filigree in the Rheingau

2/22/21 -

Sometimes it takes an outsider to see the inherent beauty of a place with perhaps even greater clarity than the locals. One such outsider who seems to to have a fantastic understanding and love for her new home is the talented young grower Eva Fricke. The child of doctors in Saxony, Eva's journey to the Rheingau ran through Oenology school in Geisenheim, stints working for wineries in South Africa, France, Italy, Spain, and Australia before landing with Johannes Leitz, where she worked for seven years before leaving in 2011. By leasing and purchasing she has accrued 17 hectares, which she farms organically (certified in 2016).

The resulting wines display great precsion, vibrance and generosity. There's an inherent energy that derives from working the steep slopes organically, despite the extra work involved. But as she told us when she visited the store a few years ago, the organic methods show not only in the health of the vines, but in the wines made from their fruit.

In the lauded 2019 vintage, Eva's wines seem to have an extra layer of detail, nuance, energy, and, dare I say charm. Each posesses a vibrant core of striking minerality, caressed by pure fruit with soaring aromatics and great persistence. Though what impresses most is the nascent complexity in each bottling; these have plenty to reveal, though they are already lovely and impeccably balanced. We hope you'll find a place for these wondeful bottles at the table and in your cellar.

-John McIlwain