Schäfer-Fröhlich - Felsenberg 2017
We continue with aged Riesling, which comes this week from the Nahe region. We're drinking a bottle of Felsenberg 2017 from Schäfer-Fröhlich.
“Actually, I hardly drink any Riesling anymore” is the kind of statement I like to pull off. A sentence somewhere between truth, self-protection, and lie. The fact is, simply opening a bottle of Riesling when you want something to drink with food or whatever you’re in the mood for, that almost never happens anymore. And it’s also a fact that for a while we may have overdone it a bit with Germany’s leading grape variety, the local queen of wine grapes. And at some point, enough is enough. That’s the truth part. Self-protection, because drinking no Riesling, if you don’t drink less and previously drank almost only Riesling, automatically means that a door, no, a barn door opens to the rest of the wine world. And if the Riesling door were to remain open as well, where would it end? And the lie, well, after last week and what’s still to come, I’ll probably have to admit to myself that I still find Riesling quite awesome. And drink it.
This time we’ll be drinking a bottle from the Nahe region. With this bottle, the Nahe, which with its nearly 4,000 hectares ranks in the middle of German wine regions in terms of area, has appeared exactly five times on this blog. Underrepresented, therefore. Due to the “Felsen” (rock) in the name, one has to be a bit careful with the Nahe and especially with Schäfer-Fröhlich. There’s the Bockenauer Felseneck, the top GG (Grosses Gewächs) in the winery, located in a side valley of the Nahe, and the Schlossböckelheimer Felsenberg directly on the Nahe, a somewhat smaller GG, also with “Felsen” in its name. The label elegantly omits “Schlossböckelheim” at the front, which the international clientele will likely appreciate. Then there’s also Stromberg to have more than one “Berg” in the portfolio. German vineyard names, a never-ending source of joy. “Smaller GG” should be considered in relation, because the Felsenberg is also approaching the 60 Euro mark in the current vintage, with the Felseneck about 10 Euros above that. In 2017, according to my order history, the Felsenberg was still 34. Certainly another reason for today’s opening statement. Tim Fröhlich and family now make wine on approximately 20 hectares around the Nahe and can look back on over 200 years of family winemaking tradition. Riesling takes up by far the largest part of their vineyards and, in the case of this bottle, grows on volcanic weathered soils with a direct view of the river. The grapes are spontaneously fermented and then aged in large wooden barrels.
The wine seems quite mature in the nose during the first moments. This is even more noticeable when we think back to the extremely fresh wine from the Moselle a week ago, which is actually a year older. But, and this is the decisive “but” in this case, nothing is old here. The fruit is simply yellower, more exotic, somewhere between mango and pineapple, and with much more creaminess when smelling. Since Riesling and our dinner won’t become friends, the first acquaintance is limited to the tasting sip anyway. As always, we’ve brought time with us. And indeed, even the first few hours without tree bark in the bottleneck change the wine quite a bit. It becomes spicier, much spicier, and a stony minerality positions itself alongside the fruit. And the fruit itself changes too, becoming harder to grasp, more blurred and complex. Just as much happens when drinking, lots of depth, minerality, and a kind of multi-vitamin juice fruit that lingers forever. This might be one of the wines of recent months that resonates the longest. The acidity is there, but more orange than lemon, which doesn’t mean it’s not still really juicy. A Riesling that completely belies the whole idea that I don’t drink Riesling anymore, that is nothing less than magnificent right now. I wouldn’t know what more maturity could improve, but at the same time, I think it will easily handle at least another 8 years. There it is again, one of those moments when I wish I had bought more than one bottle. Because on my inner wine list, a large red stamp is now being pressed onto the Felsenberg: Consumed. The nose of a thousand different dark, orange, and yellow fruits, the stone and the spice, nothing more is possible today. Peak Riesling.
I’m honest, I would have expected development overnight. Especially because so much happened in the first few hours. I would have even silently accepted decline, it was that good on the first evening. But nothing changed. It remains exactly as it was 24 hours earlier. An indication that another 8 years really shouldn’t be a problem at all. But, and I repeat myself, this is so incredibly on point at this moment that I don’t want to think about any of that. This is a magnificent bottle of wine.