by Al Drinkle
If the merit of a tasting room can be measured by the extent to which it enables one to comprehensively and undistractedly engage with wine, then Weingut A.J. Adam’s tasting room is one of the best that I’ve ever visited. It’s at ground level adjacent to their small winery, underneath Andreas and his family’s home and just a few meters from the Dhron River. There’s a long, rustic wooden table whose accompanying chairs are upholstered in forest-green felt, and despite the endearing family harvest photos that began adorning one of the white stucco walls a few years ago, the room remains paradoxically austere and welcoming at the same time. With the windows open, you can hear the humble sloshing of the Dhron while contemplating otherworldly wines in otherwise delicious silence.
The vineyard tour having been completed (and therefore, minds having been blown), Andreas typically begins the tasting with a detailed explication of the growing season and the harvest. Following this, and excepting his terse commentary on the analyses of the individual wines, he becomes part of the minimalist decor. For years I’ve wondered what thoughts occupy him as he silently tastes the wines that he already knows so intimately, chin resting in his hand while patiently awaiting the conclusion of my enthusiastic scribbles. Is Andreas bemused by how awestruck this unhinged, foul-mouthed Canadian always seems to be about his latest vintage? Is he taking advantage of the opportunity to engage in abstract thought? Maybe he’s meditating? Perhaps he’s thinking about the neverending amount of work that his steep vineyards require, and how he should be out there — or anywhere else — instead? It could be some combination of all of these things, but each year under his hospitality, my couple of hours in that room are some of my most profound and inspiring.
I’m tired of telling you that A.J. Adam has just made their greatest vintage ever. In many ways I’ve yet to stop believing it, but year after year, “greatness” is manifested here over a dramatically broad spectrum of styles, and through the harnessing of the attractive aspects of each growing season while nimbly sidestepping any issues. Thus, the word “greatest”, regardless of its accuracy as a qualifier, is rendered cumbersome and redundant for its lack of detail. Clever Burgundy buyers will have learned not to chase vintages, but to instead ally themselves with a few talented growers through whose lens they choose to view the nature of any given year. Similarly, Andreas and Barbara Adam are elite winegrowers in that each and every vintage for them is a triumph of their own brassy, articulate house style, working in symbiotic tandem with the unique contributions of the growing season. Their 2022 collection is a series of cool and sunny reasons to celebrate living.
