The Wirz Vineyard is a true California gem. It is own-rooted and old-vine (planted in the 1960s) Riesling (with a bit of Silvaner for good measure) in a rocky granite/limestone soil, at 1000' in the Gabilan Mountains. Here a tiny amount of concentrated grapes ripen very late, often in October, which is extraordinarily rare for California. The few wines we've tried from this site have a distinctive signature that we cannot resist.
We got small amount of 2018 Haarmeyer Wirz Riesling and we are psyched. Some of you may remember the 2015 Precedent Wirz Riesling that we had last year. About as quirky as it gets, we loved it, as did many of you, though there were a few detractors, which was not surprising. The 2018 vintage was very cool compared to 2015, and the Haarmeyer is 10.95% alcohol compared to the Precedent's 14.1%. Both wines are bone dry, and both show a very similar fruit and herb complex, but the Haarmeyer is zippy and tense, while the Precedent was richer as well as somewhat oxidative. If you liked the Precedent, you'll likely find a lot to like in this Haarmeyer, though there are clear differences.
Haarmeyer Wirz Riesling 2018 - $28
Aromas of quince, apple jelly, kumquat, lemon candy, sage, rosemary, petrichor, rubber... super high acid, mineral and herbal, long and tangy. Wirz strikes my heart again! I am getting to be obsessed with this vineyard.
Thanks for reading!
Cheers,
JPK