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Eva Fricke, “Wisperwind” Riesling

Rheingau, Germany 2018 (750mL)
Regular price$34.00
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Eva Fricke, “Wisperwind” Riesling

With titles like “Newcomer of the Year” and “Riesling Heroine,” we’ve left no stone unturned and no arm untwisted in our search for an allocation from Riesling phenom Eva Fricke. This time around, it took us an agonizing 2.5 years to secure a substantial parcel—and yet, despite the many frustrations we weathered in our pursuit, there’s something quite invigorating and satisfying about watching a one-woman show go from quietly producing 400 bottles of wine in 2006 to becoming one of Germany’s most celebrated “new school” cult producers. Truly, Eva Fricke’s limited range has taken the world by storm and positively stolen the hearts of just about every living sommelier.


Pandemic aside, you’ll find these incredibly well-priced gems in Michelin-starred restaurants around the world and, if you’re lucky, you may even stumble across a few bottles in a boutique wine store. Other than that? You’re out of luck. The two times we offered Eva Fricke back in 2017/18, they flew out of our warehouse with such speed we barely had time to tape up the boxes. The good news is, we’ve finally negotiated our way into another micro-allocation: today’s 2018 “Wisperwind,” a barely off-dry bottling from organically farmed sites around Fricke’s home village of Lorch. If your sanity is intact, there’s simply no way you can skip out on this amazingly priced and remarkably flavorful Riesling—there’s never enough for everyone, so act accordingly!


Focused exclusively in Germany’s Rheingau region, Eva Fricke organically farms a small 10-hectare fiefdom of vineyards in the village of Lorch, about one hour west of Frankfurt and 30 minutes east of the heart of the Mosel Valley. Lorch’s slate- and quartzite-rich slopes offer the perfect climate, aspect, and mineral composition for producing world-class Riesling. Eva is a known Burgundy enthusiast and she vinifies her wines with a noticeably ‘Burgundian’ approach—she has Bourgogne blanc-equivalent “regional” Rheingau Rieslings all the way up to single “cru” wines. Today we are offering Eva’s Lorcher “Wisperwind,” her version of a village-level Riesling. And, because Fricke’s strictly organic practices allow soils to properly flourish, the crop quality in the fantastic 2018 vintage is perhaps some of the highest she’s seen. 



If you can’t tell by now, I concur with the current tidal wave of critical praise regarding Eva’s wines and their impressive cellar potential. Everything I’ve tasted has been accessible and breathtakingly delicious upon release, yet one doesn’t have to take more than one sip to also notice the astounding depth, quality, and energy in her Rieslings will take cellaring in stride (despite today’s wine aging under a year in stainless steel!) That’s one of the everlasting beauties of evolving Riesling: the most long-lived expressions of the variety aren’t closed and opaque in their youth. On the contrary, today’s wine is lively and extroverted now and will remain so for quite some time. 



Still, one would have to possess superhuman willpower to keep their hands off this wine for more than a few months, as it is deliciously ripe and mineral and lively right now. In the glass, this 2018 “Wisperwind” rolls out vibrant layers of green mango, guava, fleshy white peach, honeydew, honeysuckle, a hint of petrol, ripe apples, lime leaf, and finely crushed rock. There are about 15-20 grams of sugar in this wine, but let me be crystal clear: It is not perceivably sweet. In fact, I often reach for these slightly off-dry Rieslings over one that is bone-dry and teeth-rattling because they can be far more inviting, impeccably balanced, and much easier to consume. Truly, if you can stop at one glass of “Wisperwind,” my hat is off to you. It’s packed to the brim with wonderfully ripe tropical and orchard fruits, crushed minerals, and rip-roaring acid that keeps your tastebuds watering and ready for more. What’s more, there’s impressive complexity and slow-building intensity at its core, making this a wine that can be enjoyed well into day two (if you somehow have a glass left). If, like me, you’re looking forward to a few weeks of lighter eating and drinking in-between the holidays, this bottle’s low alcohol and compatibility with healthier fare make it an indispensable ally. Prost!
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Germany

Western Germany

Pfalz

The Pfalz is Germany’s second-largest wine region (behind Rheinhessen, which it borders to the south). The vineyards are situated between the thickly forested Haardt Mountains and the western bank of the Rhine River, with soils that are rich in loam mixed with sandstone, loess (wind-blown silt), and chalky clay.

Western Germany

Rheinhessen

he Rheinhessen is Germany’s largest-production wine zone and, in comparison to some of the dramatic valleys further north, is a more open landscape of gently rolling hills.

Western Germany

Saar

The Saar River is a tributary of the Mosel (and in-cluded in the broader “Mosel-Saar-Ruwer”) PDO designation with vineyards perched on steep slopes of blue Devonian slate. The rocky soils and cool temperatures of these northerly valleys produce Germany’s most chiseled, high-acid  styles of Riesling.

Southwestern Germany

Baden

Baden, Germany’s southernmost wine region, has a long history with the “Pinot” family. The region’s vineyards were planted by the same Cistercian Monks who established Pinot Noir in Burgundy. Bordered by the Rhine River and the Black Forest, Baden has diverse soils—everything from loess (silt) to volcanic tuff to limestone, the most prized Pinot Noir soil of all.

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