The story of vandalism, malevolence and petty ego that led to Adam's Goldtröpchen GG being declassified into a simpler Piesporter Feinherb is hardly worth recounting.
Especially as the single parcel that made it through is so pure, so elegant... so good.
This is, more or less, exactly what I was thinking this last Sunday, sitting with Andreas in his small family cabin in the woods back behind the Hofberg, drinking what he's calling simply the 2011 Piesporter Feinherb.
Which is not to suggest that this is simple wine - it is not.
As we wrote in an earlier email regarding Adam's 2011 collection, these wines have very quickly become some of the most important wines in Germany and his 2011 collection is astounding.
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| A.J. Adam & Lars Carlberg |
We didn't include this bottling in the earlier email because there is just too little to go around - this goes out only to the Adam and Riesling die-hards.
The 2011 Adam Piesporter is completely sourced from the famed Goldtröpchen and the wine has all the depth and layers one would expect - kiwis and melon edged by tart citrus and mandarin orange.
Adam has reached a new level of elegance with this collection and to my palate the Feinherbs are the absolute best - they show just amazing clarity and balance, the weathered slate of this vineyard adding subtle soil and mineral tones.
This is a bonkers wine that drinks so fully beyond its price, beyond its mere "village-level" status... and there is a very concrete reason for this: The single stainless steal tank this wine was sourced from was to be one-third of Adam's 2011 Goldtröpchen "GG." The two other barrels from the Goldtröpchen, intended for the "GG," were destroyed. A vandal broke into Adam's cellar and added a chemical compound that not only destroyed the wine, it also destroyed the barrels themselves.
Why? Who knows - jealousy, pettiness, ego. It's pathetic and not worth any more attention, any more words or commentary.
One single stainless steal tank survived, unnoticed, and from this tank we have the sole record of the heights this vineyard achieved in this vintage.
The quantities are small, the price is roughly half of what the "GG" would have commanded - the quality, the value is serious.
We will likely have to allocate, but please do give us the maximum amount you are interested in. To order, please email us at offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463.
Stephen Bitterolf
Wine Director
Crush Wine & Spirits