J.B. BeckerRiesling Oberberg Auslese Dry 2021 (750ml)

After about ten minutes of tasting this wine, in awe of its slick density, its unending length, its formidable structure, I say something like, “Hans Josef, how the fuck did you make a wine like this in 2021… an Auslese Trocken!” He looks at me, bored as always, and says matter-of-factly: “I made two Auslese Trocken in 2021.” And this fact is shocking, startling, without a doubt. Yet the real impact comes from the fact that he says absolutely nothing else. We continue to sit there, just the two of us, and I look around to see if someone is filming this. Is there a German wine-bloopers You Tube channel I’m unaware of? (I make a mental note to ask my twelve-year-old if there is such a channel.) So, after this awkward pause, I say, uncomfortably: “Could I taste this wine?” “Yes,” he says.

This story is relevant, perhaps, because he then does go get the Rödchen Auslese Trocken and having the two wines side-by-side is illuminating. The Oberberg is for sure the more impressive, the more powerful and textural. I suspect this will be the favorite for most people – it is just a bit more complete. Both Auslese Trocken, compared to the Walkenberg Spätlese Trocken, feel riper (which they are, both clock in at 13.5%) yet they also show more fruit, they are more perfumed – perhaps the higher alcohols make the wines more aromatic. There is plenty of stone fruit and citrus, dense and coating, in both Auslese Trocken.