Heymann-Löwenstein - Uhlen R 2016
Curiosity won: We drink a bottle of Heymann-Löwenstein Uhlen R from 2016.
The struggle with curiosity is difficult and there was great hope that the small tasting on the Moselle would keep this curiosity in check for a longer time. It was there, at the Heymann-Löwenstein tasting, that the 2016 Uhlen R was served. And it was exactly there that it became clear that the wine is fun but time in the cellar might still be needed. But that was actually already 3 months ago, a lot has certainly happened, says the devil on my shoulder. The remaining bottle situation allows tasting, so curiosity wins.
Three designations of origin come from the Winninger Uhlen, a steep slope on the Terassenmosel: The Blaufüßer Lay, the Laubach and the Roth Lay. Today’s wine comes from the Roth Lay, slate with high iron content, red colour, hence the name. The wine is fermented spontaneously, is allowed to go into large wooden barrels and is given time.
The nose has a lot of flint, some acetone, strong, deep, you smell some sweet and yellow fruit, minerality, very ripe pear. In the mouth then crisp, pulls on the cheeks, pulls on the palate, is just as strong and full as the nose has already indicated, extract provides structure, at the back of the tongue a note of bitterness, tart, straight and yet you have the feeling that this is not yet quite sorted out, a bit chaotic, not yet completely coming together as it should. Then you think that this does not do the wine justice, when there is so much to be experienced, so much complexity in it. In the nose there is now and then a vegetable note that is difficult to grasp, in the mouth more light fruit, a lot of stone, with every swivel and with time and air it changes slowly, always stays incredibly long, deep and with a lot of flint.
Also on the second evening the flint is dominant in the nose, everything is very dense, complex and difficult to grasp. Yellow fruit, some herbal spice, in the mouth the crisp acidity, spice, stone, at the very back of the tongue this evening almost a bit creamy, with more air the creaminess also moves to the palate, but at the front of the tongue the structure of the extract remains dominant. Above all, the dense minerality and structure remains.
An intense wine, an exciting wine, which you can already enjoy, but which makes you realise that a little more time in the cellar would not be a mistake. I am curious how it will develop.