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Van Volxem Tasting
Park Palace, Grand Park Hotel
Tasted May 2, 2014 by Paul S with 526 views
Introduction
We had a really good tasting of Van Volxem wines with Roman Niewodniczanski, founder and winemaker at the domaine. This is a very interesting house. Roman is very driven, knowledgeable, and has really clear ideas of where he wants to go with this project. The results speak for themselves.
I should start by saying that the wines that we tried, apart from a sparkling wine as an aperitif, were all dry wines. They were good across the board, some being very good indeed. The approach to winemaking here is not something I would have thought I would like on paper – the vines are harvested ripe, with fruit being pushed to the extremes with longer hang time, leading to bigger, riper wines with less stirring acidity than one would normally expect from the Saar. This in turn has led to more easily approachable wines, certainly when compared with other top-end trocken Rieslings in their infancy. However, the wines were still very nicely balanced and seriously engaging, with a real character and a wonderful sense of extract and age-worthiness to them.
Van Volxem is a house I would strongly recommend that people try out. You may or may not like their style, but these are solid wines that are a very singular expression of the Saar. They may even be a forerunner of where German Rieslings as a whole are going, as global warming takes hold even in the most Northerly extremes of the wine world.
Flight 1 - APERITIF (1 note)
White
2008 Van Volxem Riesling 1900
88 points
Made methode champenois, this was a pleasant aperitif wine. It had a really perfumy nose that told you at once that it could not be a Champagne, with chamomile flowers and sweet, fruity aromas of white peach and ripe nectarines chased by a little minerally tone. Quite pretty. The palate went down very easily with lovely bright acidity and a fine, slightly foamy mousse paving the way for slightly greener, more citrus fruit tones, showing sweet limes and lemons along with green apples at the fore. There were slightly sweeter stone fruit shades as well, but these were mingling in the background along with a nice lick of spicy mineral and a kiss of flowers on the finish. Nothing spectacular, but this was quite a pretty drink. Enjoyable.
Flight 2 - 2011 (4 notes)
White
2011 Van Volxem Saar Riesling
90 points
This was really good for a cheap, entry level wine from a less than heralded vintage. It had a lovely nose, very pretty, with little touches of chalk dancing around pretty accents of chamomile and sweet herb and fresh cut white flowers on a base of Fuji apples. The palate had a lovely, almost pitch perfect balance to it, with gentle acidity running through simple but beautifully detailed flavours of green apples laced with flowers and stone fruited notes. It finished with just a little suggestion of mineral and a grip of citrus lime. Very nice. It is a great summer afternoon wine, great for drinking early.
White
2011 Van Volxem Riesling Alte Reben
90 points
Crafted from 50-100 year old vines, this was a Riesling that had quite a bit of chracter on it. It had a deeper nose than the straight 2011 Saar Riesling, showing more tones of earth and chalk and a bassier waft of white melon alongside its fresh cut flower and chamomile scents, and then a twist of candied lemon rind and the littlest hint of spice. The palate too showed more depth, It was had a richer, almost creamy texture, with weightier flavours of ripe red apples, sweet lemons and stone fruit - peaches and apricots – with a streak of deep-set mineral at the bottom of the palate. The finish showed a blush of warm spice and thick floral shades. This was rich and ripe, enough to give a perception of slightly lower acidity, even though it was still decently balanced. A lot going on here, but this really needed some food and still needs plenty of time in the bottle - it was not the easiest to drink on its own at this point. This will be interesting to try again in another 5-6 years time.
White
2011 Van Volxem Scharzhofberger Riesling Großes Gewächs
92 points
Very solid – this was a step up from the first two wines. Here, for the first time, we had a real sense of the minerality of the Saar. The nose was very minerally in fact, with tons of slate and stoney accents mingling amidst shades of ripe fruit, with green apples moving into white peach aromas. With time, these opened up into beautiful scents of white flowers and little bits herb. Nice. The palate was quite lovely. It was as rich and ripe as the straight Alte Reben that preceded it, with a real weighty feel, and sweet red apple flavours seasoned with lots of sweet spice, but this was also underpinned by a beautiful minerality and an effortlessly elegant balance. There was wonderful depth and breadth across the midpalate leading into a lovely long finish that layered the backpalate and lingered on and on in beautiful accents of flower, mineral and spice. Very good. This was a really solid wine, but it does need plenty of time yet – it is still so primary and tightly wound. Give it another 6-7 years at the very least.
White
2011 Van Volxem Kanzemer Altenberg Riesling Alte Reben
92 points
From 100 year old vines. – this was a big, powerful Riesling that still needs a lot of time in the bottle. It was good though. It had a big nose, with savoury spices and stoney mineral on a musky, ripe fruit base. It was a deep and attractive bouquet. The palate had a supplely muscular, strength, with interlocking layers of spice and sweet white fruit winding their way into a creamy depth. It would have rather in-your-face, if not for the fact that it was cut with a nice minerality and a little trickle of acidity, so that the wine maintained a decent balance all the way through into a ripe fruit finish. Not quite my style – I prefer my German Rieslings a little more elegant and with a certain energy and nervosity to them. This is well built though, and should give quite a bit of pleasure when it hits middle age, in say 5 or 6 years time. 92+
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Flight 3 - 2012 (4 notes)
White
2012 Van Volxem Saar Riesling
90 points
I really enjoyed this. Like the 2011 entry level Saar that preceded it, it was both really pretty and immediately appreciable, yet with enough substance to make it interesting. Again, this had a pretty nose, with exuberant notes of chamomile and white flowers along with stone fruit and a spritz of zesty scents. Really pretty. I liked the palate too, with its notes of chamomile floating about nectarines and apricots, with a little sprinkle of spice and mineral. All held together by sprightly acidity. It had a pretty floral finish as well. I think the 2011 was probably a little more together, with a nicer balance and integration to it, but this was really pleasant in its own right. Enjoyable.
White
2012 Van Volxem Riesling Alte Reben
91 points
Very nice. This wine had the same extra ripe nose that most of the other Rieslings from Van Volxem share, with green and red apple scents moving into sweeter white peach notes, then a blush of fresh cut flowers, some spice, herb, and chalky mineral notes. The palate had a beautiful fruit expression to it, almost more Rhinehessen than Saar, with suggestions of ripe apples and green mangoes and papayas, all this was lined with lovely fresh acidity and a spine of earthy mineral and spice though. This was a very nice, complete wine. It had a real fullness to it, yet also had a nice balance and feel. Drinkable now, it should get better over the next 5-6 years and beyond.
White
2012 Van Volxem Scharzhofberger Riesling Großes Gewächs
93 points
Excellent stuff – this was perhaps the most immediately enjoyable wine of the day. It had a wonderful nose, with an infusion of chamomile and white wed to a gentle stream of earth and slate and stone. It was really attractive, yet subtly elegant. The palate was rather riper and fruitier than the nose would suggest, with flavours of sweet lemons on the attack leading into rounder, fleshier tones of sweet white peaches on the midpalate. There was lots of weight and depth in those flavours, yet the wine wore it all with an effortless finesse and lightness that was accorded to it beautiful citrus acidity. Still very primary, but this was clearly very complete and already very yummy. Great finish too. It had a real sense of grip and extract, and just kept giving, with a long, effortless pull of mineral sprinkled with spice at the edges. An excellent wine. This should be one of those that drink well enough young, but should keep developing for many years down the road.
White
2012 Van Volxem Kanzemer Altenberg Riesling Alte Reben
93 points
Very good indeed. This was at least 5 years too young to drink, but already showing tons of promise. The nose had rich scents of white peach and apricot packed in with lots of chalk, a little spice and some white flowers and sweet nectar – a very full, warm, giving nose for something so young. The palate was big, rich and ripe, with a slightly creamy feel to its red apples and lemons on the attack, and then sweeter stone fruit, particularly nectarines on the midpalate. Lots of depth, lots of power, yet beautifully balanced and poised. It had a really nice complexity even for something so youthful though, with lime zest and mineral and slate and spice winding their way into a long finish. There was still a sense of the wine being tightly pack and needing time to unfold, but this was so very complete – it should be a real knockout given enough time in the cellar. 93+
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Flight 4 - A BONUS (1 note)
White
2009 Van Volxem Scharzhofberger Riesling Großes Gewächs
93 points
Beautiful – we really saved the best for last. I was wowed by the nose, with its wonderful mineral tones - lots of slate and chalk - and subtle white-fruited aromas with some peachy notes at the sides, all crowned with a little halo of white flowers. Lovely stuff. The palate was equally delectable. It was rich, ripe and round – very reflective of both the house and the vintage, with sweet stone fruit filling the mouth. However, this was undercut by an absolutely beautiful balance and structure, with freshness and minerality aplenty soaring through the wine, all the way into a sweet finish, where stone fruit and flowers were laced with a streak of slate. Lovely stuff. Delicious now, it will be even better a few years down the road. A great end to a great lunch.
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