J.B. Becker Wallufer Walkenberg Riesling Auslese Trocken, Rheingau, Germany 2023

The mastermind behind the wines of J.B. Becker is the mustache-forward Hans-Josef Becker, affectionately called “HaJo” by the importer Vom Boden. We’ll go with that.

HaJo is the second generation of his family to farm their vineyards organically. His wines ferment in pressurized tanks using only wild yeasts. He then racks them into traditional large barrels and ages them for at least two years, releasing them “willy-nilly,” sometimes after an extraordinarily long élevage. His obsession with dry Riesling started in the 1960s while studying under the cellar master at the now-defunct Schloss Eltz, tasting fresh wines straight from the cask before any süssreserve was added. When he took the helm at Becker in 1971, he made trocken his focus, decades before it became a cultural phenomenon. There are no gimmicks, secrets, philosophies or tricks behind HaJo’s winemaking. The bottles simply speak for themselves.

"Already the nose of golden autumnal fruit, fennel and wild herbs is overwhelming, but then follows an essence of riesling spices and minerality on the palate that knocks you out of the everyday world for a lingering moment of reverie. In the nearly endless finish it feels as if you’re surfing a huge wave. The harmony of this masterpiece of traditional dry Rheingau riesling is just perfect. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold. Glass stopper." - James Suckling 99