Elbling, Riesling, and Blaufränkisch oh my! I'm guessing you have heard of one, maybe two of the varietals we will be tasting this Thursday. This bubbly Elbling is a wine we have supported here at the shop since day one. It pretty much sums up everything we want to stand for. An obscure varietal pushed to the brink of extinction brought back by a loving if not crazy family that only works with , well, Elbling. Julian Haart, our Riesling producer for this tasting, is known for his "entry level" 1,000 L from 25 yr old vines from the Grand Cru Goldtröpfchen Hill. It was so incredibly good when our importer tried it that they bought the entire Fuder. Last but not least a fresh take on Blaufränkisch, semi-carbonic and oh so mouth-coating from Austria. I'm partial to this importer, we buy a lot of wine from them because it's all so compelling so enjoy!
Hild Elbling Sekt Brut #52 
“Matthias Hild farms 5 hectares in the upper Mosel doing something that makes almost zero financial sense: saving old, terraced parcels of Elbling. In this area, however, it’s important to understand Elbling is something of a religion. It’s a culture, a regional dialect that is spoken through this wine of rigorous purity, of joyous simplicity, of toothsome acidity...The comparisons are plenty, though none of them are quite right; if Riesling is Pinot Noir, then Elbling is Gamay. If Riesling is Chenin Blanc, then Elbling is Muscadet. You get the idea. The joy of Elbling is its raucous acidity, its vigor and energy, the fact that it is so low in alcohol you could probably drink a bottle and still operate heavy machinery.” —Vom Boden, Importer
Julian Haart Riesling 1,000 L 2020
When Julian released his first vintage under his own label in 2010, the world noticed. Even though he’s made more than a few jaw-dropping wines, most of his tastings end with him telling you what he would have done differently, where he thinks he failed, and how he could have done better, says our distributor, Vom-Boden. Everything’s done by hand on the crazy steep vineyards of ungrafted vines around 100 years old. Laser-like precision not lacking in opulent fruit. This “entry level “ bottling comes from his large 1,000 L Fuder and has you wondering man if this is entry level what’s the near level up ? Well, if you ask us maybe we can grab some single vineyard bottlings but until then …..Order in some Dan Dan Noodles from Han Dynasty, and call it a night!
Joiseph Blaufrankisch BFF 2019 750 ML
Although it opens often a bit reductive (they normally ferment it with nearly 1/2 whole bunches and covered with the de-stemmed mash to provoke something of a semi-carbonic fermentation to begin), the wine opens up and literally unfurls into fine layer after fine layer of bright red to dark purple fruit: sour dark black earth, a Rhône-ish spice, black olive, tension, cranberry, green spice, salt, good energy and mineral on the palate.
In certain Austrian-wine-dork circles, this is one of those wines people talk about. Not cheap, but not expensive, not showy, flashy or avant-garde – just good. There is something about the accessibility here, the balance of tangible and savory fruit, the saturation of the wine, and on the other hand its reticent nature, the pull and energy… always a gentle breeze pushing back the sunshine.
Join us this Thursday at Dépanneur Wines 5:30 PM - 8:30 PM
292 Livingston St.
Brooklyn NY 11217
* a note on our cover photo taken from our importer's site.
If you need any help, please just email. We are here, ready, very much awake and in no way peacefully sleeping, wrapped in a wool blanket, with an old bottle of Egon Müller artfully placed in our loving arms.
info@depanneurwines.com