Three Bottles Full
We are having three wines made by Christopher Full in the Zellertal: The Cuvee Joy, Mölsheimer Riesling and a single-vineyard Riesling Am Schwarzen Herrgott.
First of all, I must confess that the wines have found their way into the cellar simply because of their appearance. At the end of last year, when the secret santa bottles were shared in the Weinwichteln Facebook group, the Rorschach labels by Christopher Full from Mölsheim immediately caught my eye. So I asked for a wine list and ordered a case. A colorful mixture of village and single-vineyard wines was in there, all matured with some amount of wood. The wines are from Rheinhessen, but the Pfalz is right next door. Finally, three bottles of him are on the table now.
Starting with Joy, vintage 2015. The grape juice was on the mash for 18 days, then 8 months in barrique. The wine lies juicy yellow in the glass. In addition it is a little stinky. Cool. Then you notice the wood clearly in the nose, some smoke and in the background you can guess some herbs. Above all, however, the note of the wood remains clear. First sip. The wine has spice, a lot of spice. One notices immediately that this one lives from the structure. A lot happening on the tongue. Grapefruit joins and everything stays long on the palate and on the tongue. But the fruit plays only a minor role for me with this wine. Maybe we should have had it after the Riesling. Anyway, it tastes good. But before the two Rieslings, water, bread and a break. Clearing up the taste buds.
We continue with the Mölsheimer Riesling from 2017. Directly after pouring the wine, we have something nutty in the nose. A walnut note in Riesling? Remains of the strong wood use of the predecessor? Tout est possible, my old French teacher used to say and after the wine has been oxygenated by means of a spin cycle in the glass, the note has disappeared. Now there is green apple, citrus fruit, a lot of fruit in total. Much fresher than the previous one and in the mouth with crisp acidity and great juiciness we have here a real drinking wine in the glass. The mouth is filled with water and you want to go right back to the stuff. The wood, which is in all wines today, is only slightly perceptible here and gives a nice frame. Juicy, very drinkable. Wow! The bottle survived the evening barely and on the second day the wine was much rounder with even more fruit and a now very distinct taste and smell of green apples.
Finally, the Am Schwarzen Herrgott from 2016. The single-vineyard Riesling comes from the vineyard Zellerweg Am Schwarzen Herrgott in Mölsheim, not to be confused with the Zeller Schwarzer Herrgott virtually right next door, but already no longer Rheinhessen then. Also super fresh with a very cool nose. When drinking, you first feel a little stone and minerality on the tongue before an almost brutal acidity hits. A few years of cellar are certainly no mistake here to integrate that a bit better. Matching the cool nose, there are light fruit, peach and typical Riesling fruit notes, whatever that means, I can’t really commit myself to it. Typical Riesling. Just like the smaller Mölsheimer, this wine drinks with a clearly increased salivation. Actually a bit more of everything. Everything a bit more intellectual, but not necessarily nerdy. But also everything a bit more reserved. A night in the refrigerator was helpful here and the wine opens up a lot more. The acidity less zingy, the fruit a bit more pronounced. Christopher Full himself describes the wine as a long-distance runner. I think he is right.