2011 at its most Fascinating
2011 Schäfer-Fröhlich Kupfergrube GG
"One of the finest dry rieslings of the vintage." -Joel Payne for Stephen Tanzer
With only .5 hectare under vine, this is Tim Fröhlich's rarest "Grand Cru" dry Riesling.
For the 2011 vintage, it is also one of the best - Joel Payne's recent review only adds fuel to the (very limited) fire.
How limited? Well, we appear to have the only bottles in the U.S. And the pricing is ultra-sharp - take a look and compare to prices that normally hover between $70 and $80+.
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The Kupfergrube has always been an obsession of ours (how sad we were when Dönnhoff sold his parcels for more Hermannshöhle!). It is, without a doubt, one of the most fascinating terroirs of the Nahe... of Germany.
The Kupfergrube is a largely volcanic site with a high iron content. The wine is defined by a singular mineral expression, unlike any other Riesling in Germany. Layers of saline notes, smoke, pulverized rock and topsoil. What's equally amazing about Kupfergrube is how this fascinating minerality is interwoven into the citrus and florality.
In 2011, what makes this bottle so great is how it takes all this and weaves it into something so fine... so defined.
If it's tempting to characterize the 2011 vintage as being fruity and pleasurable, a few producers achieved an astounding purity and rigor. The SERIOUS short-list would include the divine Willi Schaefer family, Weiser-Künstler and, yes, Schäfer-Fröhlich.
Tim himself considers this one of the greatest vintages he has ever made. When we first tasted this at the estate in early 2012, Tim said quite plainly that he had never before harvested such beautiful grapes as he did 2011. It's perhaps a bit too obvious, a bit of a cliché - but you can taste it in the 2011 Kupfergrube. This is one of the most crystalline and precise expressions of Riesling that exists in 2011.
We've been offering Schäfer-Fröhlich's wines since the 2005 vintage. With each year, we find ourselves saying that the wines are even better than the previous vintage. I don't know of another producer whose ascent has been so swift and consistent.
John Gilman recently wrote, "Tim Fröhlich is currently at the height of his powers." He is indeed producing some of the greatest wines in Germany. The strength of his 2011 Kupfergrube drives this home.
The pricing is as sharp as it gets; the wine is very limited. Please give us your dream order and we'll do our best to allocate accordingly. As it's the weekend, you may not hear back from us until Monday.
To order, please email us at offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463.
Joe Salamone
Wine Buyer
Crush Wine & Spirits