J.B. BeckerRiesling Walkenberg Auslese “Durchgegoren” 2022 (750ml)

OK, take a seat. As with the “Rotweiss,” neither John nor Collin nor myself understands, exactly, what inspired Becker to write “Durchgegoren.” It would translate to something like “fermented through,” indicating that the fermentation went through and stopped naturally. In most cases, this would happen when the wine was dry, yet here the wine finished with some residual sugar (around 15 grams residual sugar per liter). In short, I guess this is an Auslese Feinherb – or maybe something closer to a riper, Rheingau-version of Lauer’s “Senior.” But it was important to Becker that you know he didn’t stop the wine to achieve any sweetness. This is a natural wine, though the grapes definitely had a bit of botrytis and the wine was filtered and sulfured. But other than this it is totally natural.

I like John’s notes: “Wacky and pristine succulent peach notes but with a structure like a 30-foot stone wall. This will live 60 years.” If you age this for 61 years and it’s dead, it’s not our fault.