"a wine for lovers of liquefied iron and pulverized rocks..."
2010 AJ Adam Hofberg "GG"
I believe this vintage actually played to the strengths of AJ Adam and this may very well be his masterpiece.
I've had this wine now four times;I've been working on this offer for three weeks and it still seems insufficient, somehow lacking. I'm a bit obsessed.
I just can't wrap my head around this wine and to be honest, that's what keeps bringing me back.
Yes, young AJ Adam has again styled one of the top collections of the vintage and today we focus on what just might be the masterpiece, his "Grand Cru" dry Riesling from the Hofberg.
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| Hofberg Vineyard in Dhron |
What is so beguiling about this wine? It is dense, sappy - yet the sap is of a mineral/stone quality. This is one of the most profound expressions of mineral out there: see Theise's quotes above and below (the full review is worth a read). The wine is powerful, with an incredible thrust, astounding delineation and focus... bonkers length.
I truly believe the 2010 vintage actually played to the strengths of Adam's winemaking style. Adam makes big wines; in riper vintages they can be a bit too Baroque - for me, his most thrilling collections have been the product of leaner vintages: first 2008 and now 2010.
His 2010 Hofberg is a monument to this vintage and it is built to go the distance - for this reason we have special pricing on 4-packs. I would give this wine time, though the 4-pack allows you to visit one bottle sooner and keep three in the cellar. If you do open sooner, don't hesitate to revisit on day 2 and 3. For those of you who want to join me in cellaring some magnums of this wine, there are a few available - please inquire.
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If you've been reading our offers, you already know that AJ Adam has had something of a meteoric rise. This is all the more impressive as he farms only 3.5 hectares of land in a rather obscure part of the Mosel.
Give credit where credit is due: Therry Theise found this kid before everyone else, recognized his genius and gave him his full support, including the mighty pen of the Theise poetry and marketing division.
We were among the first retailers to go DEEP on Adam's wines; I visited him in early 2009 and wrote the following in my 2008 German vintage report: "Adam has come out of nowhere and all of a sudden, to my palate, he's making some of the greatest Mosel Rieslings out there."
This was true in 2009; it's true two years later. Adam is among those young winemakers (KP Keller, Florian Lauer, Gernot Kollman, Tim Fröhlich, etc) who I believe are going to redefine what people think about when they think about German Riesling. Do not miss this.
To order, reply to this email or call the store at (212) 980-9463.
Stephen Bitterolf
Wine Director
Crush Wine & Spirits
Theise: "Steely mineral power and a craggy palate profile; a bit radishy the way Kögl and Zwerithaler can be; a wine for lovers of liquefied iron and pulverized rocks; leads to an equally huge-feeling finish of molten terroir and the smoke from burning shoots."