Rating:

Product Description:

Stephan Reinhardt - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
"Weingut Josef Spreitzer in Oestrich cultivates 21.5 hectares of vines of which 97% is Riesling, the other 3% Pinot Noir. The estate is managed by Andreas and Bernd Spreitzer, the grandsons of founder Josef Spreitzer. Their vineyards are in Oestrich (Doosberg, Lenchen, Rosengarten and Klosterberg), Hattenheim (Wisselbrunnen) and Winkel (Jesuitengarten). The 3.5 ha cru Rosengarten (formerly a part of the Lenchen) is officially permitted as a single vineyard site since the 2013 vintage. There are only 3 producers in the Rosengarten, besides Spreitzer (who owns 2.5 ha) J. Wegeler and Weingut Kunz (who both own 0.5 ha and are both located in Oestrich).
1/3 of the volume is aged in old traditional barrels (Doppelstuck of 2400 l) but the percentage will grow; the Spreitzers bought 4 new barrels (1200 l Stuckfasser) this year. All of their wines have seen oak, especially in vintages with a higher acidity. The Grosses Gewächs wines of the 2013 vintage were already amazing and forced me to visit the estate in late October to taste the rest of the portfolio which is absolutely convincing. 2013 has been an excellent vintage for the family estate which offers a proud range of diverse Rieslings. "In 2013 we started harvest on October 17 with our Josef Spreitzer Riesling trocken, and we stopped that main harvest November 2nd with our St. Nikolaus Grosses Gewächs,“ says Bernd Spreitzer. Thanks to the de-leafing of the grape zone throughout the vegetation period they harvested "more than 90% of healthy grapes."
Spreitzer's dry Kabinett wines are very good but starting with the Charta Riesling especially the wines with residual sugar are excellent if not, great. This estate was always very good but I don't think they have ever been better than today. Unfortunately many of the 2013s are already sold."

About Spreizter
"The Spreitzer estate, founded in 1641 and one of the oldest in the Rheingau, benefits from a long tradition in winemaking as well as the recent modern winemaking innovations of sons Andreas and Bernd Spreitzer who have controlled the estate since 1997. Bernd and Andreas were the Gault Millau’s Discovery of the Year Award recipients in 2001.

All of the classified Erste Gewächs parcels that Spreitzer owns lie within the original boundaries of the named vineyard; the 1971 consolidation grouped vineyards smaller than 5 hectares together. The Lenchen vineyard in Oestrich is composed mostly of loam and loess soils. Numerous underground streams here ensure that even in dry seasons the vines are guaranteed a natural source of water. Within the Lenchen rests the two smaller parcels, Rosengarten and Eiserberg. Rosengarten, the 'filet piece' of the Lenchen, is a tiny parcel on lower elevation between the Rhein River and the Spreitzer's home, and typically expresses characteristics of full fruit. Eiserberg sits in the most northeastern corner of Lenchen and maintains very old vines planted amongst red, iron-rich stones. Eiserberg was categorized by the Prussians in the 1860's as being amongst the highest in quality, and due to its exposition and rich loess-loam soils it produces fruit of sufficient ripeness. The Oestricher Doosberg vineyard is also composed mostly loam and loess soils, with the addition of quartzite, and sits at an elevation of 600 meters. Other vineyards include the Winkeler Jesuitgarten, an early ripening site alongside the Rhein with a south to southwest exposure, and Hattenheimer Wisselbrunnen, an Erste Gewächs site located due west of Oestrich.

Viticulture practices are as natural as possible at Spreitzer, and include alternating cover crops of herbs, greens, and lentils in the summer with grains in the winter. The Spreitzers strive to maintain fruit and finesse by cleaning the must by gravity for 24 hours after whole-cluster pressing, then allowing the wines to rest on their gross lees and only filtering once. The Spreitzers employ a long fermentation, and extended lees ageing to protect the juice from oxidation. Mostly ambient yeasts are employed for fermentation in both temperature controlled stainless steel and 1200 liter casks of German wood, called stückfass. The resulting wines show great pedigree. The Spreiter's flagship riesling, <<303>>, is so named due to a record breaking ripeness of 303 degrees oechsle achieved in 1920 within the Eiserberg vineyard - a record that stood until the 2003 heat wave that swept over Europe. The 303 today still comes from the Eisenberg, but rarely hits must weights above Spätlese level." - Importer's Notes