Jürgen Ellwanger - Hebsacker Berg Lemberger 2016

Actually, I would have liked to add another week of low-alcohol alternative in January, but due to a lack of exciting bottles, that won’t happen for now. However, there are still potential candidates on the list, so that the hope exists to be able to catch up later in the year. It is really not so easy to find cool things in that field. In any case, there is still a lot to discover in Württemberg. It’s a good thing that the fact that great wines are made at the Jürgen Ellwanger winery, is not a great new discovery, and that the wines can also age nicely has been established at the latest since we had the Spätburgunder from 2013 in the glass. However, I was still looking forward to this bottle, as this is the first bottle of Lemberger Großes Gewächs from the winery that I have drunk and I really like the entry level Lemberger and those classified as Erste Lage. The grapes for the wine grow in the Hebsacker Berg, a sub-location of the Hebsacker Lichtenberg, which is on the other side of the Rems in principle almost directly opposite the winery in Winterbach. The cork has been with much less enthusiasm than I in the matter and has decided at least partially to remain in the bottle for the time being. Fortunately, the lower part was then cooperative enough to be removed from the bottle without falling apart completely.

What then lands in the glass more than compensates for the brief moment of shock. It smells of cool, red fruit mixed with forest and wood. There are spices and a bit of something floral there as well. When you start to put your nose in the glass the cool spice dominates, which is then replaced by forest fruit, sour cherry and cassis as you swirl and take in the air. Lovely. In the mouth, a good amount of resistance has survived the time on the bottle pretty much unscathed and now pulls strongly, albeit very velvety on the cheeks. Again, this comes across as cool and elegant. There’s nothing warm or fatty in the wine, this is juicy and still feels super fresh and young.

A day later, the tannin really rears its head again. The first few moments it’s quite unruly and has more grip on the tongue. This then subsides and becomes more gentle with air and temperature. In the nose, however, the harmony is there from the first smell. The fruit is red and dark, there are further the spices that are a bit reminiscent of Christmas, mixed with rosehip and dark chocolate. And if you give the wine time, that harmony makes it into the tannin structure as well. This becomes soft, smooth and velvety, has depth and further the freshness. I’m not at all sure if I don’t miss the slightly scratchy part a bit though. Where I am quite sure, however, is that this is great Lemberger and that I simply like wines from 2016.

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