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I had received a test bottle on Thursday (upon being informed of the fracas, Moriz Just, the new enologist or master of the caves, had sent me one, free of charge) and we tested it with four people on Saturday (two US tasters, two Germans).
This came out much better than the two ramblers' distressing experience would suggest, so it might have been a bottle problem at that time, or - much more likely - a better second filling now. The present AP number of my bottle is 233 31 12.

The wine's nose is downright remarkable, indicating and promising a quality (and some typical characteristics of this specific, legendary vineyard) that the body and especially the finish would not quite be able to uphold later - alas.
One might suspect me of positive "label bias" (I know how the Maulbronner Eilfingerberg Rieslinge are supposed to taste, so of course interpretative projection is always a danger, and hence the importance of blind tastings). My co-tasters, not overly familiar with German Rieslinge, suspected an unoaked Chardonnay (their Riesling experience or exposition had limited primarily to sweet specimina) at first. However, it is a fairly typical dry Riesling to me already in its bouquet.
I noted an agrumic complex (mostly red orange), but neither citrus nor passion fruit nor elderblossom (FAR off track!) nor green apple (likely an understandable misperception of the slightly estered agrumic notes), as the accompanying wine expertise on the estate website would suggest to us.

The body remains extremely slim, and neither aeration nor time would allow it to unfold; because it cannot present more than it had to begin with. The structure displays the typical vertebral column that the good Eilfingerberge have (acid and strength, yet supple like a tempered blade - "lâme d'épée"). The estate's description tried to characterize the acidity as "vivacious", but unruly would be the better word. However, it is contained enough not to be perceived as boisterous. Not much development through its course, and a certain lack of differentiation. The wine could accompany a fat fish with a strong own taste (also a baked or roasted fish) and pheasant or smoked goose, and of course ostrich. It would be unkind with any more tenderly flavoured, elegant fish (such as pikeperch), and unsuitable for most red meats and most vegetarian dishes. However, Grünkohl (Germany) and sukuma wiki (Kenya) could match it VERY well.

Finish and aftertaste: nothing at all (!) except for a long acidic echo. The mention of a long echo ("langer Nachhall") in the estate expertise is thus not really wrong, but rather misleading. This wine breaks off abruptly after about 2/3 of its way, like as if it had been chopped off with a hatchet. The drinker thus is unpleasantly bereft of any development, finish, exposition; not just the tail is missing, but even the hind legs and the buttocks. This is the main disappointment that I had with this initially promising wine.

US perception: Ashy finish (one taster was reminded of charcoal). Both US tasters strongly insisted on oak, although that can hardly be (the Hofkammerkellerei uses steel tanks and large oaken vats with neutral taste). Mildly earthy.

One day later, we had occasion to compare this Riesling mentally to one Mosel (lightly and barely off-dry) by Markus Molitor that we had as dinner companion in Freiburg's presently best restaurant, the Kreuzblume. http://www.hotel-kreuzblume.de/en/
Menu list here: http://www.hotel-kreuzblume.de/en/menu-en
Molitor, the darling of wine scribes and guide publishers, who has also been variously mentioned in this blog, won the comparison hands-down with a much more mature and perfectly composed Riesling wine. While the Eilfingerberg has definitely more potential, Molitor's wine used its inherent qualities to the fullest, and this one did not.

So, to refocus on the original question, what went wrong here? The tasters can at best speculate, since neither of us was in the vineyard or in the cellars. Very likely, there was no vinification error whatsoever involved, at least not with this one second bottle, respectively this second wine filling.
Too high overall yield, as the ramblers wondered, *might* be a potential culprit. It could very well explain the slightly disappointing discrepancy between nose and the abruptly curtailed body. Another possibility is grape pre-selection. The estate of the ducal House of Württemberg does, like most VdP members, produce its yearly share of GGs (Große Gewächse). I have always been very wary of this money-making ploy because it too easily tends to downgrade and declassify the other wines of such a producer not just subjectively in public perception but also objectively in the GLASS itself. Where an estate pre-selects certain batches (meaning territionally advantaged sub-divisions within one vineyard, micro-parcels or "Gewanne" in German) for special care and fostering, this often tends to push down the rest of the wines. Also, grapes pre-destined for a later GG often undergo yield reduction in various ways, while the other grape batches are less rigorously treated. On the whole, this seems to be the most likely explanation to me, if I were to speculate. To be a bit more assured, a comparison to a contemporary 2011 Großes Gewächs from the same vineyard would be necessary.
On the whole, it simply breaks down to an economic assessment of short-time monetary gain balanced against the reputation of an estate and even a whole House (as here, since the winery has always occupied a place of special pride in the large and rather diversifed economic undertakings of the Württemberg family). I would rather be willing to pay two and a half Euros more per bottle of a really good and satisfying Kabinett (meaning 11 € for this one), or let's say 15 € for the occasional Spätlese, than an over-priced 24 Euros for the rather few produced bottles of a Großes Gewächs in a fancy-pancy bottle (such as the 2011 Stettener Brotwasser - the 2010 Maulbronner Eilfingerberg GG is at 17,50 €).

It belongs to the generation of "old" grapes there were replaced (starting in the seond third of the 18th) already in the 19th and at last in the 20th century. Like Heunisch, Knipperlé, Elbling, Kläpfer, Gänsfüßer... there are many more names. Note that in contrast, Orléans always was considered a noble grape.

Now, "old" does not necessarily equal "good". Historians know that only too well. These grapes were considered as lowly, and for a reason. However, the same "low-quality peasant vines" whose squeezed fruits filled the mighty 10,000s and even 100,000s litres vats in our castles (still to be seen today in the Heidelberger Schloss, Schloss Hohentübingen) with an equally sour and indifferent fluid, and that today make paleographic novices wonder whether the humungous figures in the old tithe registers - of Gargantuan dimensions - can at all be right (yes, they are!)... these same *v*ines might yield a very remarkable and noble *w*ine when old and being kept to a very low yield on purpose. Thus, it might well be worth to revive them at least to a limited extent.

PS: one of the few bottles of Räuschling now sells at double to triple price of the cooperative's other wines.

Thank you for sharing this, Alexander. I have never really looked into Hesse, I have to admit, but this looks very interesting and my save me from getting into similar troubles (not that any dignitaries from where I grew up would remember me though). Cheers!

Thank you for the praise :-).

A return to roots can be mixed; Swabian author Hermann Hesse wrote a novelette on such a topic, called "Die Heimkehr" (Returning Home):
An adult man, now arrived and well-to-do, with much money to invest, returns to the small Swabian town that he once fled as a youngster, a bit like Dürrenmatt's Old Lady. Initially honoured and fawned by the notables, he soon discovers that things and people have not much changed. They made a film out of it for TV earlier in this year. Not bad. And even a mention of wine is not lacking:
"doch die Stammtischhocker sind noch genauso borniert wie einst und johlen erst freundlich, als ihnen ein Wein - "aber d'r beschde, den sie habe!" - ausgegeben wird."
("... but the pub inhabitants are as narrow-minded as ever, and only begin to cheer their long-lost son when invited by him to free wine - "but awnly from de best!" they demand).

I just bought a bottle of 2011 Linsenhöfer Silvaner Vulkan (technically a Spätlese) today in a local small wineshop; have unscrewed it and just - while typing this and unwinding from pre-Christmas stress through some allegedly-out-of-my-character kitsch music (Enya !!) - am tasting it.

A very pleasant surprise of remarkable quality, given the legendarily BAD reputation that Neuffener "Täleswein" has always had - and still has - among Swabians (only wine from Reutlingen is badmouthed worse).

Non-autochthonous drinkers should be aware that the region is very near to a an endemic seat of Deepest Pietism, namely to the hamlet of Hülben with a local reputation [*] of slooooooooowwwnessssss, and its legendary or notorious "Hülbener Stund" (a weekly bible lecture and prayer fellowship, maintained and upheld since over 200 years by a single schoolmaster family, the Kullen dynasty), a religious persuasion thus that makes any US Southern Baptist appear liberal and nigh free-masonic... So much for my own pretence of knowledge of local feuds and slurs (ask me about the Swabian meaning of "Hüle" and its symbolic employ [**] at some later time).

Back to the wine. In any blind tasting, not at few tasters would identify this as a slightly acidic overly German style Pinot Gris, with a mere 12,5 % alcohol; however, the as of now yet undeveloped finish and his boyish, very slim hips clarify that the wine can hardly be a pinot family member. While already nicely drinkable, this Vulkan can and will posssibly find a bit more equilibrium (I mean it as I write it: equilibrium; for harmonic is already is) - and may develop what its very pleasing nose already announces. A more detailed evaluation, appreciation or hatchet job may follow later, I have only had the first sips.

(*) The extremely detailed polyhistoric 19th century Oberamtsbeschreibungen (shire descriptions) - all of them now easily internationally available on the 'Net - are your friends.
(**) Between a bog and a small stale pond, more on the bog side. Or, as proverbial Swabian [im]propriety of yesteryear had put it: "them beasts ain't drinkin' it anymore, but for them there folks, it's still good enough!"

I was amused to see that Johann (or maybe Hansi) Ruck is not above a pun - he has also coined the "dernier cru" ('s Hindaletzschde!). Well, my lame attempt of a teutonic translation is probably mishapen; he just used Wine French to create the counterpart to a prime or first harvest (Jungfernlese, which is NOT an Ottoman military experiment of setting up an Janissary amazon reguiment).

His 2009er Rödelseer Schwanleite Grauburgunder alte Reben „dernier cru“ simply was the last harvest before the old pinot gris vines were uprooted and presumably replaced.

After publishing this I realise I have not explained why there is no price information - as you can see from the tags this wine was given to me by a friend who refused to share the price. As it happens, this was a gift from fellow Wine Rambler Julian, so if you are desperate to find out what it cost drop him a line.

Many thanks for your kind comment, Solomon. In the UK you can see the effects that Liebfraumilch and other cheap German bulk wines have had on perception - changing this has become something like a mission for me, although I am of course aware that we will need a little more impact than one blog can generate to change this. Still it is encouraging to see that over the last few years the wine trade has become more interested and slowly this will trickle down to the consumer. The only thing we have to make sure that over the message of how good German dry wines are we don't forget that the sweet wines aren't bad either - but with wines as good as this Eiswein or good Riesling Auslese I am not too concerned about that.

Good luck finding the Eiswein - I would be surprised if they produced much of it!

And you have enticed me to check out that *other* vineyard in Maulbronn, the venerable but very little known "Maulbronner Closterweinberg". This old dry-walled sandstone structure of impressive architectural dimensions, long-neglected and barren, has been rediscovered and re-planted only recently.

One of the vintners (Johannes Häge) has even written a historical article (also available as short brochure) about its history that you'll find in any better OPAC:

http://www.archive-bw.de/sixcms/media.php/44/Enzkreis_Jahrbuch_10.pdf
Der Enzkreis - 10. 2003. - S. 143 - 155
Signaturen:
BLB Karlsruhe: ZA 8515
WLB Stuttgart: Z 16302

You will be aware that the House of Württemberg have changed their enologists every couple of years in recent times. Present new master of the caves is the young Moriz Just (fresh from Spain), who was preceded for four years by Chistian Lintz who has never stayed for long in any wine estate. While stabilitas loci is no more the motto among modern winemakers, a certain experience of estate, vines and soil should not be despised too quickly.

The Maulbronner Eilfingerberg vineyard still has supreme Riesling potential, I think. Planting a part of it with Pinot blanc may not have been exactly a wise decision; the one that I tasted last year was rough to rude, very green and without any finesse. A clumsy boor.

A vertical tasting of elder vintages would be a very interesting and rewarding endeavour, I am sure - I still remember fondly the 1983 and 1985 vintages that I tasted in Tübingen (where I studied history - among other subjects). It was one of my favourite old professors who had introduced me to the estate... R.I.P.

...but you can't argue with the handsome part!

Nice to hear from you, Andrew! There are some excellent Rheingau producers that I would not want to miss, especially Peter Jakob Kühn - one of my absolute favourites - and Künstler - also excellent. Having said that as a region I find the Pfalz much more exciting, and not just for Riesling. It has become one of my favourite wine regions, not only in Germany and not only for Riesling. How someone would turn a Pfalz Riesling down simply based on the origin is beyond me, but we all have our preferences. Rheinhessen might still sound like a cheap bulk wine region for some, probably the same people who assume that the Rheingau still has the same place it did a hundred years ago...

Anyway, I agree on the Loosen factor. In London it is very hard, almost impossible, to avoid him. As you say they are decent wines, some very good ones in fact, but I get bored by seeing the same name on every restaurant wine list as if Germany was only defined by Loosen (lower price range restaurant) or JJ Prüm (the inevitable Auslese in a fancy restaurant - having said that if it was not so very expensive I'd happily take a Prüm Auslese, thank you).

Even so I will have to seek out a single vineyard Leitz wine at some point to tick that box!