Critic ratings
robert_parker
2011
Rating:
89
–89
Crushed stone, smoky black tea and lemon oil make for an aggressively pungent aromatic and palate impression to Kreydenweiss’ 2011 Riesling Kastelberg, whose mid-palate firmness leads to a penetratingly piquant though rather austere finish that adds resin and juniper berry. It strikes me that the brush with botrytis may be responsible for the rather aggressive textural impact here and slightly diminished juiciness vis-a-vis the Andlau Riesling or Pinot Gris-based bottlings tasted alongside. Still, this severely concentrated offering is impressive in its way and will be worth following through at least 2018.
Antoine Kreydenweiss reports having had to make very stringent selections in 2011 due to encroaching rot, which he says was a particular problem this year in the narrow, largely woodsy valley of the Andlau. “The first pass on most parcels,” he notes “was just to pick out rot.” One upshot of this was significant declassification. And the combination of selectivity with precocity and fairly generous underlying yields made for a 2011 collection that averages a full degree lower alcohol than the 2010s. “But then,” adds Kreydenweiss, “if you want to pursue the goal of botrytis-free wines as I do and in this place, you are going to have to pick selectively nearly every year.” The sort of positive hint of malolactic that hovers about many Kreydenweiss wines and that helps them capture rich textures and an extra dimension of complexity without sacrificing cut or clarity, extends also to many though not all of those from 2010, extreme though that vintage was – a demonstration that fruit generally ripened properly without excessive malic acid, and this despite picking for Auxerrois and the Pinots having begun already the last week in September (the same period during which this estate picked Riesling in 2011). Kreydenweiss is also firmly convinced that malolactic transformation should be separated from alcoholic fermentation by at least a month or two, as is normally the case in Burgundy. “I try to adapt the elevage to the vintage,” he says, by way of explaining how much longer – up to two years in total – his 2010s stayed in barrel than his 2011s. After a hiatus following a parting of the ways with their long-standing importer, it’s good to see the highly distinctive wines of this exemplary estate reentering the U.S. market via importers on both coasts.
Importer: AP Wines, New York, NY; tel. (212) 395-9463 and Grape Expectations, Inc., Richmond, CA; tel. (510) 412-5969
robert_parker
2010
Rating:
91
–91
Kreydenweiss’s 2010 Riesling Kastelberg – bottled in September of 2012 which is relatively early by the standards of Riesling from this vintage collection – delivers smoky, zesty, saline notes on the nose as well as on a sappy palate that are very consistent with the performances put in by most wines in that collection. Mirabelle, peach kernel, gooseberry, toasted almond and pip as well as rind of lemon make for a penetratingly high-toned and piquant personality, whose underlying stoniness adds to an overall impression of severity. This slate-tipped arrow of a Riesling should merit following through at least 2025. And I would expect it to hold much in reserve for its first half dozen years in bottle. (The analytically similar 2008, tasted alongside, is even more than when last tasted for issue 194, a superb model of complex clarity and penetrating elegance.) A Muenchberg 2010 also tasted alongside was however so awkwardly reduced and inscrutable that I have not published my tasting note, and I have unfortunately not had chance to re-taste it.
Antoine Kreydenweiss reports having had to make very stringent selections in 2011 due to encroaching rot, which he says was a particular problem this year in the narrow, largely woodsy valley of the Andlau. “The first pass on most parcels,” he notes “was just to pick out rot.” One upshot of this was significant declassification. And the combination of selectivity with precocity and fairly generous underlying yields made for a 2011 collection that averages a full degree lower alcohol than the 2010s. “But then,” adds Kreydenweiss, “if you want to pursue the goal of botrytis-free wines as I do and in this place, you are going to have to pick selectively nearly every year.” The sort of positive hint of malolactic that hovers about many Kreydenweiss wines and that helps them capture rich textures and an extra dimension of complexity without sacrificing cut or clarity, extends also to many though not all of those from 2010, extreme though that vintage was – a demonstration that fruit generally ripened properly without excessive malic acid, and this despite picking for Auxerrois and the Pinots having begun already the last week in September (the same period during which this estate picked Riesling in 2011). Kreydenweiss is also firmly convinced that malolactic transformation should be separated from alcoholic fermentation by at least a month or two, as is normally the case in Burgundy. “I try to adapt the elevage to the vintage,” he says, by way of explaining how much longer – up to two years in total – his 2010s stayed in barrel than his 2011s. After a hiatus following a parting of the ways with their long-standing importer, it’s good to see the highly distinctive wines of this exemplary estate reentering the U.S. market via importers on both coasts.
Importer: AP Wines, New York, NY; tel. (212) 395-9463 and Grape Expectations, Inc., Richmond, CA; tel. (510) 412-5969
robert_parker
2009
Rating:
92
–92
From a very warm vintage but picked early – 2009 was Antoine's first vintage he did without the help of his father Marcel who runs the family property in Nîmes – the 2009 Kastelberg Grand Cru shows an intensely yellow/white golden color as well as very ripe and intense fruit aromas (yellow apples, roast apples). Rich, lush and round on the first palate and definitely smoother than 2013 but still piquant and elegant, filled with tension, finesse and complexity towards the finish and provided with the same firm tannin structure of the 2013, the promising 2009 unfolds an impressive, tension-filled length but is still on an early point of its potential development and would surely benefit from some hours – or days? – of aeration. “The wine gains finesse and elegance with the years, especially rich vintages like 2009,” promises Kreydenweiss before he went to get some liquid arguments from the family's wine library...
robert_parker
2009
Rating:
90
–90
Peony and ripe peach in the nose of the Kreydenweiss 2009 Riesling Kastelberg migrate to a lush, silken palate subtly suffused with anticipated wet stone alkaline notes as well as a surprisingly Pinot Gris-like smokiness. There is a sense of fruit and mineral interaction in this Riesling’s satisfyingly juicy finish that transcends the vintage norm, and I would expect it will merit revisiting over at least the next 7-10 years, though probably not cellaring long-term like its 2008 counterpart. When Antoine Kreydenweiss – who was on his own calling the shots in Alsace for the first time – called his father in Nimes in the first days of October, 2009 to announce not only that he was going to start picking but that he thought Kastelberg Riesling should be first on the block, he says this was greeted with considerable skepticism, but the results have proven him savvy. Incidentally he thinks the evolution of this 2009 might resemble that of the corresponding 2001, which I tasted alongside and which is now fascinatingly mineral-dominated. The 1983 – opulently ripe, but more energetic in its youth than the 2009 – is gorgeous today.
Antoine Kreydenweiss is now running his family’s Alsace domaine on an ongoing basis, while his father Marc concentrates on their property in the Costieres de Nimes. I was dismayed – especially in view of such high-quality 2009s and 2008s – to learn that this justly-renowned domaine for the time being no longer has a U.S. importer. Most of the 2008s received 15 months’ elevage. The 2009s were all harvested early even by vintage standards and harbor nuances not found in most Alsace wines of their vintage, being at times capable – as Antoine Kreydenweiss had remarked of his 2008s – of projecting a sense of their sites without obviously revealing their varietal identity. I did not taste several slowly-evolving 2009s, including a Clos Rebberg Pinot Gris that was still fermenting when I visited last November.
No current U.S. importer.
robert_parker
2007
Rating:
92
–92
One of several Kreydenweiss wines of its vintage that was very slow in fermenting, the 2007 Riesling Kastelberg (a.k.a. “Le Chateau”) smells strikingly of fresh lime, orange zest, and green tea; comes to the palate bright and juicy, yet with a formidable sense of stony sheer mineral mass; and finishes with implacable length and invigorating pungency of citrus zest. This ball of energy – whose formidable sense of stuffing and electric acidity Kreydenweiss attributes to the deeper, more water-retentive soil that lies under the schist in this site – should be well worth following for the better part of two decades.
Marc Kreydenweiss and is son Antoine continue to favor true dryness, as well as malo-lactic fermentation and long lees contact, conveying a unique style that has stood the test of time not only from vintage to vintage (including numerous 2006 successes) but in the bottle as well. “It was really an extremely easy vintage in the cellar,” remarks Antoine Kreydenweiss of 2007 with its healthy, high acid (nearly all tartaric) fruit, and a picking window “that lasted from the 19th of September until the end of November, enabling each cepage and parcel to be picked at its precise level of maturity.” There was a Riesling S.G.N. here in 2007, which had by no means finished fermenting the last time I visited.
Importer: Wilson-Daniels, St. Helena, CA; tel. (707) 963-9661
robert_parker
2006
Rating:
88
–88
The Kreydenweiss 2006 Riesling Kastelberg offers a nose of musky narcissus, cassis, mirabelle distillate, mothball, damp rocks, and shrimp shell. The palate is subtly honeyed – an impression reinforced by a slight hint of sweetness not usually found in this bottling – and high-toned inner mouth esters suggest a wine older than its age; but then, that is a feature of many wines from this vintage, and I would plan to drink this one within the next 2-3 years. As with most of the Kreydenweiss 2006s this is, for all of its decadence, genuinely refreshing, even invigorating in a way wines of its vintage seldom are.
Marc Kreydenweiss and is son Antoine continue to favor true dryness, as well as malo-lactic fermentation and long lees contact, conveying a unique style that has stood the test of time not only from vintage to vintage (including numerous 2006 successes) but in the bottle as well. “It was really an extremely easy vintage in the cellar,” remarks Antoine Kreydenweiss of 2007 with its healthy, high acid (nearly all tartaric) fruit, and a picking window “that lasted from the 19th of September until the end of November, enabling each cepage and parcel to be picked at its precise level of maturity.” There was a Riesling S.G.N. here in 2007, which had by no means finished fermenting the last time I visited.
Importer: Wilson-Daniels, St. Helena, CA; tel. (707) 963-9661
robert_parker
2005
Rating:
93
–93
Very intense apple, tropical fruit as well as lemon and orange oil aromas raise from the glass of the straw-yellow colored 2005 Riesling Grand Cru Kastelberg. Rich, concentrated, and firmly structured Riesling with power and complexity but also elegance. Very pure and mineral on the palate the massive 2005 is juicy and provided with a very good tannin structure whereas lemon and orange oil flavors along with some nicely bitter aromas dominate the persistent finish. 2005 was a good and warm but finally also fresh vintage, says Antoine Kreydenweiss remembering: "We harvested very quickly in-between of 14 days to get the right maturity.“
robert_parker
2005
Rating:
90
–90
Bitter-sweet notes of cassis and huckleberry and lemon zest in the nose of Kreydenweiss’s 2005 Riesling Kastelberg lead to a much juicier, more ingratiating mouthful of fruit and minerals than its 2004 counterpart, glossy and polished in texture, then saturating the palate in equal measure with long-lasting berry stains, citrus oils, and dusty, stony apparent essence of schist.
Marc Kreydenweiss might seem like less of an Alsace maverick now that so many of his fellow vignerons have joined him in embracing biodynamic methods, but his wines still possess a style of their own, dry and influenced by malo-lactic fermentation and long lees contact. There can be few vintners who so often convey their intentions in poetry – although Olivier Jullien immediately springs to mind – and few who bottle more eloquent vinous poetry, either. Each bottling here – and they all feature artistic works commissioned for the purpose – has an evocative nickname on its label (often a French rendition of the old Germanic place name), some of which I have mentioned parenthetically in the text that follows. There simply aren’t enough expressions, though, to do justice to the different sensations of minerality – however distinct and intense these are – that Kreydenweiss somehow manages to conjure out of his sites and into the glass.
Importer: Wilson-Daniels, St. Helena, CA; tel. (707) 963-9661.
robert_parker
2005
Rating:
83
–83
Faintly scented nose of lemon and bruised apples. Palate is a bit dull and dilute. Seems to be fading already – perhaps a bad bottle? Medium to high acid Medium+ finish.
robert_parker
2004
Rating:
88
–88
From a distinctive sort of schist, the 2004 Riesling Kastelberg (a.k.a. “Le Chateau”) represents another attempt to come to terms with botrytis, this time immediately recognizable from a deep green-gold color and pungently smoky aromatics. Kreydenweiss left this for an especially long time on the lees. Musk, narcissus, wood smoke, toasted nuts and honey in the nose lead to an overtly dense, thick palate deploying dried peach, spice, smoke and wet stone, and the finish – while long – is piquantly nutty, faintly bitter and rather austerely mineral.
Marc Kreydenweiss might seem like less of an Alsace maverick now that so many of his fellow vignerons have joined him in embracing biodynamic methods, but his wines still possess a style of their own, dry and influenced by malo-lactic fermentation and long lees contact. There can be few vintners who so often convey their intentions in poetry – although Olivier Jullien immediately springs to mind – and few who bottle more eloquent vinous poetry, either. Each bottling here – and they all feature artistic works commissioned for the purpose – has an evocative nickname on its label (often a French rendition of the old Germanic place name), some of which I have mentioned parenthetically in the text that follows. There simply aren’t enough expressions, though, to do justice to the different sensations of minerality – however distinct and intense these are – that Kreydenweiss somehow manages to conjure out of his sites and into the glass.
Importer: Wilson-Daniels, St. Helena, CA; tel. (707) 963-9661.
robert_parker
2009
Rating:
92
–92
From a very warm vintage but picked early – 2009 was Antoine's first vintage he did without the help of his father Marcel who runs the family property in Nîmes – the 2009 Kastelberg Grand Cru shows an intensely yellow/white golden color as well as very ripe and intense fruit aromas (yellow apples, roast apples). Rich, lush and round on the first palate and definitely smoother than 2013 but still piquant and elegant, filled with tension, finesse and complexity towards the finish and provided with the same firm tannin structure of the 2013, the promising 2009 unfolds an impressive, tension-filled length but is still on an early point of its potential development and would surely benefit from some hours – or days? – of aeration. “The wine gains finesse and elegance with the years, especially rich vintages like 2009,” promises Kreydenweiss before he went to get some liquid arguments from the family's wine library...
robert_parker
2005
Rating:
93
–93
Very intense apple, tropical fruit as well as lemon and orange oil aromas raise from the glass of the straw-yellow colored 2005 Riesling Grand Cru Kastelberg. Rich, concentrated, and firmly structured Riesling with power and complexity but also elegance. Very pure and mineral on the palate the massive 2005 is juicy and provided with a very good tannin structure whereas lemon and orange oil flavors along with some nicely bitter aromas dominate the persistent finish. 2005 was a good and warm but finally also fresh vintage, says Antoine Kreydenweiss remembering: "We harvested very quickly in-between of 14 days to get the right maturity.“
robert_parker
1997
Rating:
93
–93
Crafted from 55 year old vines that yielded only 30 hectoliters per hectare in 1997, the show-stopping Riesling Kastelberg offers profound aromas of white peaches, stones, and minerals. This super-serious yet generous wine is packed with concentrated layers of sea shells, flint, and chalk in its gorgeously delineated personality. It is medium-bodied, rich, highly-structured, and powerful. This magnificent effort should be at its peak between 2003 and 2015. Importer: Wilson Daniels, St. Helena, CA; (707) 963-9661.
