The first tasting that I moderated yesterday in the cellar of Hirschprunn castle during Alois Lageder's Summa 2012 in Margreid was with Annette Siegrist from the Dr. Bürklin-Wolf estate in Wachenheim. It was a selection of what we would today call Grosses Gewächs, or Grand Cru, from the Jesuitengarten site in Forst, with ten vintages ranging from the 2010 back to 1997. Although we generally think of the Pechstein vineyard as having the most black, volcanic soil, Jesuitengarten has its fair share as well. Situated between the former and the Kirchenstück site, Jesuitengarten often marries the crisp elegance of Pechstein with the richness and depth of the latter. That said, it is very unpretentious and often does not show its true potential until its fourth or fifth birthday. Although Germany really hasn't had a truly poor vintage over the past fifteen years, my call at this tasting went to the supple suavity of 2002 and the brisk intensity of 2001, a sign that dry German Riesling drinks extremely well at the age of ten years. In any case, this presentation was so overbooked that we held it twice. A sign of popularity in Italy? Comments