Van Volxem 2007’s: A Star is Born
11/20/2008 -
(Dominick, Lyle, Roman)
Last February I went to Germany with David Weitzenhoffer, president and CEO of Acid Inc, a small boutique wine importing company our goal was to come back with the best estate not available in New York. Well, we did. Through a combined effort we managed to get Van Volxem back into the New York market. Terry Thiese used to import them, but Roman's (estate owner and style czar) drier style and Terry's preference for sweeter wines did not pan out and they ended their relationship. The wines now are better than ever.
Roman's first vintage was in 2000 and it was great, but the strides he has made since then are unreal. The 2007's are the finest collection to date. Some of you may have had the Saar Riesling we had in this summer but the current offerings are the Grand Cru wines from the greatest sites in the Saar, I could not pick them all but I did pick two I thought were pretty special.
Roman makes wines the way we like. Natural yeasts, old vines and spontaneous fermentation are the norm here which is unusual for Germany. Now onto the wines.
The Volz is one of Roman's coolest vineyards and it's planted entirely on blue slate. It's my favorite wine of his year in and year out. It is a lighter wine than say his Scharzhofberger but still very austere once in bottle. Needs a lot of air and maybe 5-7 years in the cellar to fully express itself. There are wonderful flavors of lemon and wild flowers plus a flowing river minerality. Only 10 cases out of 250 were imported into the US and we got three of them. This is a value in dry German Riesling and a must for any collector or someone who just wants to dip their toes in to the wonderful world of Saar Riesling.
The Altenberg, some people say, is the best vineyard in the Saar. Even better than the famed Scharzhofberger. It is splitting hairs if you ask me. This is made from 80-100 year old vines and in contrast to Volz it is Van Volxem's warmest vineyard. The wine is more regal than Volz with more breadth and power. The vines are planted on grey slate with some red slate thrown in for good measure. There is a little residual sugar in this wine. 14 grams which is hardly noticeable. Ethereal, floral and powerful at the same time. 10 cases imported to the USA of 166 and we have three of them.
Both items are extremely limited and will be sold on a first come first served basis. Do not miss these. These are thrilling wines and we are happy to have them back in New Yok after a short break.
