The young A.J. Adam has quickly become one of Germany's most important growers.
Beginning with less than a hectare of land about a decade ago in the off-the-beaten-track village of Dhron, his rise has been simply meteoric.
We have been ranting about his wines since 2006; others (including the New York Times) have followed suit in the years since. As with Tim Fröhlich and a few others, Adam simply has "the touch" and every year the wines just get better.
Today, we present his stunning 2011 collection at special pricing.
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This was one of those visits (the lineup, "the day's work," shown in the picture) that left me a bit dazed, jaw dragging along on the floor behind me. The collection is just awesome. While I very much like the more severe vintages of 2008 and 2010 at Adam - indeed the 2008 Kabinett remains a seminal wine for me - I believe Adam has reached a new level of elegance with the 2011 collection.
Adam's style is full and muscular - almost Mosel via the Nahe. If in years past the wines have had FORCE, a snap, a rigor to them, in 2011 the force is no less... it's just slinkier, more finessed, more serpentine.
The entire collection is a gift and the most sage advice is to buy as much of each wine as you possibly can - I don't write crazy lines like that often, but it's true so there you go.
That said, two wines stood out for me. The Hofberg Feinherb I thought was just psychotically clear, a deep, shimmering wine with an awesome expression of mineral and PERFECT balance. Feinherb as a category gets perennially overlooked, yet they so often have such a beautiful interplay of fruit and acidity... I've never tasted a better Feinherb.
Second: The Hofberg Spätlese. This is a superb wine.
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| A.J. Adam & Lars Carlberg |
Terry Theise writes: "MY WINE OF THE VINTAGE, and Andreas’ greatest achievement to-date. It’s a cuvée of a 'regular' and a '1-star' Spät he decided to blend, and whew – what a fragrance! It’s the quintessence of Hofberg, and as great a Mosel wine as you’ll ever taste; shimmeringly brilliant, fantastically vivid dialogue of slate and herbs and taut but resplendently ripe fruit; long beyond any thoughts of 'length,' and acutely painful to spit – but you don’t have to, you lucky cuss."
Every year it seems like the Auslesen and BAs become a bit more unfashionable and this is really a shame - again in 2011 Adam has crafted some dazzling sweets. One can only assume the pendulum that currently swings toward the dry Rieslings to the neglect of the sweet ones will one day return... so buy these now and when they are really ready to drink you'll have them in the cellar!
2011 is a much more generous vintage than 2010 - that's for sure. Still, Adam farms less than four hectares and this kid becomes more of a wine star every year. Please give us your maximum order and we'll do our best to allocate fairly. Please have patience with us as we allocate the orders.
Please email us at offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463 to order.
Stephen Bitterolf
Wine Director
Crush Wine & Spirits
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