From Unknown to Celebrity: A.J. Adam
2009 A.J. Adam Hofberg Kabinett
Special Pre-Arrival Pricing until Friday Only...
At this point I'm not sure A.J. Adam needs an introduction?
(He's the young kid that we've been heralding as one of the greatest winemakers in the Mosel for about three years.)
In fact, last summer when Paul Grieco asked me to write a small piece for his "Summer of Riesling" wine list at Terroir, I wrote about A.J. Adam's 2008 Kabinett.
Then, in mid-April of this year Asimov did his New York Times tasting of the 2008 Kabinetts and sure enough Adam's Kabinett came out on top.
Adam's 2005s were good, the 2006s baroque and a bit over-the-top, but exquisite. His 2007s were profound, the 2008s were perhaps the best of the vintage; and with the very, very good (possibly very great) 2009 vintage, A.J. has made another simply awesome collection.
While critics are going to tip-toe around the comparison with the monumental 2007 vintage (it's embarrassing to have a vintage of the decade every other year), this is for sure the most apt comparison with 2009, though 2009 has at the best addresses more of the cut of 2008, more of that gripping tension.
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The 2009 Adam Kabinett is once again one of the best of the vintage. It is juicy, ripe and evocative - that Riesling pear-peach-and-apricot combo provides a foundation for a wilder array of juicy mango and kiwi. These are ripe, exotic fruits that are still fresh, and made even fresher by a minerality of the most saline variety, slate that has endured multiple wash cycles with rainwater and flowers.
As Asimov alluded to, Adam's Kabinetts, even in a leaner vintage like 2008, are powerful wines. They share some of the thrust and force of the Nahe wunderkind Tim Fröhlich (which is likely why both are among my favorite German winemakers). The 2009 is a blockbuster Kabinett, a Kabinett that gets photographed everywhere it goes, a Kabinett that wears designer clothes and has to enter and exit restaurants via the back door because of its natural air of celebrity.
This is a Kabinett that cannot fit into parking places marked "compact Kabinetts," a Kabinett with no mute button and whose volume is turned up very loud. This is a Kabinett whose minerality is barely contained by a caravan of trucks, a Kabinett whose acidity can cut through diamonds and whose structure is being studied by the Pentagon.
In many ways, this Kabinett is hardly a Kabinett - it was harvested at 89 Oechsle, meaning it could technically be classified as an Auslese. Yet still, it has almost 9 grams of acidity that counter the ripeness, providing extraordinary cut and clarity, giving an agility on the palate that is at the very least Kabinett-like and by any measure extraordinary.
This is one of the top Kabinetts of the vintage, and with only about two hectares under vine in the Hofberg, this is also one of the rarest. This offer goes out only to those of you who have supported our German program - special pricing ends Friday.
To order, email us at offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463.
Stephen Bitterolf
Wine Director
Crush Wine & Spirits
Special Email Bottle Price: $24.73
No compare at pricing available
Special Email 6-Pack Price: $137.76 ($22.96/btl)
Wine arrives next week
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