After, as usual, a small share of Brücke had been left for Eiswein, a tiny bit of botrytis finally showed up. Given Dönnhoff’s reputation for Brücke Eiswein, it’s not surprising that the most promising bunches were the...
After, as usual, a small share of Brücke had been left for Eiswein, a tiny bit of botrytis finally showed up. Given Dönnhoff’s reputation for Brücke Eiswein, it’s not surprising that the most promising bunches were the ones that got spared the initial Auslese picking. On November 22 there was a forecast of frost, and the estate’s elite Eiswein crew was alerted to show up at daybreak. But the Ice Man evidently failed to get that message. “And at that point,” related Dönnhoff, “I just said ‘Basta! [Schluss!] Everything gets picked this morning!’” There is a lightly confectionary note here born not just of high residual sugar but also, I suspect, of the brush with frost. (Why freezing often engenders such an impression, I can’t say.) Red raspberry and quince preserves with a crystalline sugary edge and a hint of caramel seem also to be dusted with crushed stone, saliva-inducing mineral salts and whatever mysterious ore-like matter it is that informs this collection’s other Hermannshöhle bottlings. For all of its confitured and confectionary aspects, the fruit also comes off as lusciously succulent, not to mention impeccably pure. A polished and subtly creamy feel adds further allure, and the superbly sustained finish is mouthwateringly umami-rich. This is certainly one late-picked 2018 that doesn’t disappoint! But I imagine the firming and acid-concentrating effect of low temperatures (albeit 2020here near low enough to have frozen the grape solids) counteracted any sense of fruit fatigue or sagging berry skins such as is conveyed by so many late-picked 2018s.
-- David Schildknecht