2013 Eva Fricke, Riesling, Trocken, Rheingau Germany.
Eva Fricke’s basic QbA Trocken is stylish, zippy and dusty dry with yellow peach, lime, grapefruit, green apple and mango notes along with sizzling acidity, mineral tones and salted gravel. A recent glass at the Slanted Door convinced me again, Fricke is a talent to be followed and her wines are chiseled from the soils of her terroir. This fresh and vibrant young Riesling is very charming now with firm serve character and a surprising amount of natural extract, making it a wonderful food wine, but less a fruity sipper, best to pair it up with something enjoyable and take in the subtle nuances, as the wine unfolds in the glass, this is a serious glass of dry Riesling that can match up to almost any food option you can throw at it, including ginger beef! I really am impressed with all of Eva Fricke’s offering for 2013, which was a rather more difficult vintage in Germany, compared to 2012 and 2011, and her wines seem to not have missed a beat, in fact, I think I like the 2013’s a little better at this stage than her 2011 and 2012 wines, those I think need a bit more time to evolve yet. The weathered slate and quartzite earth of her region on the mighty Rhein shine through and the winemaking is focused on intensity and dry quality Rieslings of distinction, drink this Rheingau Trocken from 2015 to 2022.
($26 Est.) 91 Points, grapelive