Immich-Batterieberg
People |
Gernot Kollmann
Focus |
Rieslings that feel etched out of the precipitously steep, stony hillsides they were clung to before harvest. Low intervention winemaking means no make up on these beauties, just dry, searingly mineral wines of slate and air.
Country |
Germany
Region |
Mosel
Village |
Enkirch
Climate |
Cool Continental
Vineyards |
13 hectares total. All Grand Cru parcels, all contain very old, pre-phylloxera, un0grafted vines
- Zeppwingert: Gray slate and quartzite
- Batterieberg: “demolition hill” named as such after Carl August Immich, blew up a steep rock face to plant more vines. The center of Zeppwingert. Gray slate and quartzite
- Ellergrub: Blue slate next door to Batterieberg. Dizzyingly steep, I know I’ve climbed it, quite the hike.
- Steffensberg: Red slate. A spicy kick to the wines from the iron and copper rich soil. The same geologic formation starts in the Saar in Niedermenniger and surfaces throughout the Mosel at Urziger Würtzgarten and ends at Rothenpfad on the Marienburg.
- Zollturm: located down river in Traben, super steep and used for both a GG and a sekt.
Grape Varieties |
Riesling
Farming |
Organic
- Practicing for 10 years
- Certified in 2022
Cellar Work |
Natural
- Mix of stainless steel and old casks
- Ambient yeast fermentation
- No additions, except a small about of sulfur at bottling
- Fermented to dryness
About the winery |
In 2008 after a stint at Von Volxem and winemaking at Knebel, Gernot Kollmann and his partners purchased the Batterieberg property. The vines are some of Germany's most genetically diverse, planted long before clonal selections and vine nurseries proliferated.
The castle onsite dates from the 12th century and the Immich family lived there for 500 years until 1989. All of the parcels are in Grand Cru vineyards, super steep, most right along the Mosel river bank. The old Prussian tax maps of the 19th century rated them some of the best in the country.
Gernot has spent 15 years coaxing the very best from these storied vineyards. His dedication to farming and hands of winemaking place him in the echelon of greatest winemakers in the valley.
What do the wines taste like?
Very precisely terroir driven. Super mineral, mostly dry, with quivering acidity and a clarity that makes you stop and think. These are thrilling in their youth but age very well, even 10 years old bottles I’ve had feel like they’ve barely budged.
Pure, unvarnished and powerful.
Wines on Offer |
Immich Batterieberg, Riesling Batterieberg Trocken, 2021 $95.99 $84.47
“The 2021 Batterieberg was picked six days later than the Zeppwingert and is the wine whose grapes were picked at the very end of the harvest, October 27-28. The nose is elegant and refined, with ripe and intense fruit and fine mushroom aromas intermingled with delicate slate aromas. Round and juicy on the palate, this is a voluptuous Batterieberg with ripe, rather mild acidity, remarkably fine tannins and lingering salinity and crystallinity that carries the wine to a long and intense finish. 12% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted in October 2022. 94 pts” -- Stephan Reinhardt, The Wine Advocate
Immich Batterieberg, Riesling Batterieberg Trocken, 2022 $104.99 $92.39
The namesake of the estate. The 80-year-old, ungrafted vines on gray slate soils with quartzite elements in the upper terraces of the cru give a crystalline, finessed and elegant but also powerful and intense Riesling of great complexity and length. Fermented spontaneously and aged in small used wooden casks, like all of the estate's grand cru wines.
Immich Batterieberg, Riesling Briedler Herzchen Trocken, 2021 $35.99 $31.67
2021 is the 3rd vintage of this wine, sourced from organically grown grapes in a vineyard site just the other side of the Marienberg from Clemens Busch's holdings. A legally dry wine made from fruit picked on 40-year-old vines in this less well-known but almost full south-facing steep vineyard on a soil of iron-infused grey slate forming the prolongation of the Pündericher main hill.
Immich Batterieberg, Riesling Ellergrub (Feinherb), 2019 $74.99 $65.99
“The 2019er Ellergrub, as it is referred to on the main part of the label, is a barely off-dry wine (with 12 g/l of residual sugar) made from parcels planted with very old un-grafted vines, and was fermented and aged in used barrique and small oak cask for 10 months. It offers a superbly delicate and refined nose of white flowers, almond cream, herbs, spices, pear, mirabelle, and a hint of apricot. The wine is subtly juicy and creamy on the smooth palate driven by ripe fruits. The sweetness, even if it packed into zesty fruits in the long finish, is still at the forefront at the moment, but this only needs a couple of years of patience in order to melt away into the wine. 2026-2044. 95 pts” -- Mosel Fine Wines
Immich Batterieberg, Riesling Ellergrub (Feinherb), 2022 $77.99 $68.63
A monumental, off-dry wine made from parcels planted with century-old un-grafted vines, spontaneously fermented and aged in used barrique and small oak cask for 10 months. Always needs a couple of years of patience.
Immich Batterieberg, Riesling Escheburg Trocken, 2021 $34.99 $30.79
Normally a blend of all four steep slope grand crus from Immich: Batterieberg, Zeppwingert, Ellergrub, and Steffensberg; but this year the Ellergrub fruit from blue slate dominates to scintillating effect. Mostly old and ungrafted vines — at least 60 years old — the vinous heritage of Germany expressed in a generously affordable bottle. Dry every vintage, and especially electric and precise in 2021. One of the star wines of the estate, and dollar-for-quality, the best value.
Immich Batterieberg, Riesling Jour Fixe Extra Brut, 2020 $54.99 $48.39
The Riesling Sekt Brut Nature Jour Fixe is made from equal parts of fruit harvested in the upper part of the Enkircher Ellergrub, the west-facing part of the Trabener Zollturm and bought-in grapes from old vines in the Oberemmeler Altenberg. The wine is methode champenoise, aged nine months in barrels, and disgorged without any dosage or SO2 (the disgorgement date is not provided on the label). Gernot allows the base wine ample contact with oxygen to reduce the primary fruit and enhance the texture. The finished Sekt is nicely intense with mouthcoating mousse on the palate, yet there is a really fine delicately racy acidity lifting up the aromatics and giving this overall richer styled Sekt much vibrancy and focus right into the beautiful finish. Notably Chenin-like in many ways! NOTE: No sekt was released in 2017, 2018, or 2019.
Immich Batterieberg, Riesling Kabinett Trocken C.A.I., 2021 $24.99 $21.99
Deep, fragrant, minerally, and pure! Under 5g/l RS. 10.5% alc. The calling card wine from hero/vintner/reconteur/gourmand Gernot Kollmann is a crisp, crunchy, keenly balanced, TOTALLY DRY Riesling from multiple sources along the Mosel, including the Saar, Mitelmosel and Gernot’s own vineyards in Enkirch.
"The 2021 Riesling Kabinett Trocken CAI offers a deep and pure as well as aromatic and slate-driven bouquet with ripe and elegant Riesling aromas. Lush and supple but refined and elegant on the palate, this is a medium to full-bodied, pure, fresh and saline/crystalline but full-flavored and textured dry Kabinett with stunning substance and juicy, ripe fruit but just 10% stated alcohol. It has a saline and stimulatingly fresh finish. It was bottled with about 21 to 22 milligrams of free SO2, which is lower than in previous years and possibly causing the suppleness and textural qualities of this serious dry Riesling. A gorgeous Kabinett! Tasted in October 2022. 90 pts" -- Stephan Reinhardt, The Wine Advocate
Immich Batterieberg, Riesling Steffensberg Trocken, 2022 $50.99 $44.87
Equivalent of a Premier Cru from 60-year-old ungrafted vines planted on red slate, adding a splash of spice. This year the wine is dry. Look for the signature notes of mandarin orange and spicy florals from the vineyard.
Immich Batterieberg, Riesling Zeppwingert (Feinherb), 2018 $89.99 $79.19
“Deep, spicy nose with great apricot, then stunning concentration on the generous and texturally complex palate, right through the very long finish. This is very sophisticated, almost dry riesling with a unique style. Would greatly reward considerable further aging. Drinkable now, but better in 2022. 95 pts” -- James Suckling
Immich Batterieberg, Riesling Zeppwingert (Feinherb), 2022 $104.99 $92.39
Zeppwingert is a steep grand cru of grey slate + quartzit containing multiple parcels of very old, ungrafted, pre-phylloxera vines. It actually surrounds the Batterieberg on the hillside. Zeppwingert, along with Ellergrub and Steffensberg, were among the highest-ranked vineyards according to the 1897 Mosel-Weinbau-Karte, the Prussian viticultural tax map of the Mosel. Like many of the great sites along the Mosel outside of the "Miracle Mile", they'd been neglected, but with renewed interest from passionate producers like Immich, Vollenweider and Weiser-Künstler, we can all enjoy these breathtaking takes again.
Immich Batterieberg, Riesling Zollturm Trocken, 2020 $69.99 $61.59
The Trabener Zollturm is sourced from the old-vines portion of a hectare recently acquired from a Kröv vintner in a once highly rated site just upstream from Gaispfad and Ellergrub. The name means "toll gate", referring to the old ruins of a toll station on a cliff atop the vineyard, overhanging the river. There was no 2021 Zollturm made due to inclement weather and wild boars! The 2020 was fermented for almost two years and bottled in September 2022. "Fermented for almost two years and bottled in September this year, the 2020 Zollturm is clear, deep, fresh and intense on the nose, with concentrated and stewed apricot aromas and chutney notes. On the palate, this is a round, intense, crystalline and stimulatingly saline Riesling with precise acidity and a long, tensioned, crispy finish. The sweetness of 17.5 grams per liter of residual sugar is still prominent, so the wine needs another 7-8 years to show the purity and complexity it really has. 12% stated alcohol. Natural cork. Tasted in October 2022. 95 pts" -- Stephan Reinhardt, The Wine Advocate
