July (AND August!) Wine Focus: Riesling Around the World

Another month!!

[Robin Garr]

Another month!!

Not until Monday. We're looking at Gamay in general and Beaujolais in particular, and since Riesling has been so popular, we're thinking about keeping it running for a second month, too.

[David M. Bueker]

2014 Kruger-Rumpf Binger Scharlachberg Riesling Spätlese - Germany, Rheinhessen (7/29/2016)
Delicious Spatlese that is rich and sweet, but also has a solid structure behind all the richness. My wife and I cannot stop drinking this, but I am sure it will age for a very long time, as it's perfectly clean and has fine poise and balance. Kruger-Rumpf just keeps getting better year after year.

Fabulous with a spicy drunken noodle dish.

If I had read my 2012 TN before selecting this wine, I would have held it back until we were serving a fish or chicken dish in a rich sauce (poulet vallée d'Auge, a Norman dish in a cream and Calvados sauce, springs to mind). In the event it did not swamp a delicate barbue fish in a discreet shrimp sauce and I feel that the wine has become more restrained with the passage of four years.

2000 Zind-Humbrecht Riesling Herrenweg de Turckheim - France, Alsace (7/30/2016)
This wine was distinctly sweet with no warning on the label (the followed year Humbrecht introduced his sweetness “indice” numbers and I would rate this Indice 3 – demi-sec – or even 4). Colour was deep gold and the nose was expressive and fragrant with notes of white rose, candy and hydrocarbon. The palate was full/medium bodied, rich and strongly aromatic with darkish complex fruit, some minerals, quite low smooth acidity and a candied touch on the long and firmly backboned finish. I liked this better than a bottle in 2012 which I described as flamboyant; this one gave me a more refined impression than that but it is not for everyone as the remarks "showy" and "cloying" from across the table testified.

Posted from CellarTracker

Notes from the last couple of months:

Leo Alzinger, Wachau, Loibenberg, Riesling Smaragd, 2010

An outstanding wine, at the start of its maturity, that lives up to all my expectations. Long, dry without in any way being overwhelming, crisp and saline. Simply awesome minerality on the nose, and then spicy yellow apples, grapefruit and lemon zest.

Willi Schaefer, Mosel, Graacher Himmelreich, Riesling Kabinett, 2014

While still in the flush of youth, this already shows confident complexity within its gossamer structure, its aromas and flavors of granny apples and pastries coming across pastel like, with a hint of mint and an even vaguer hint of tropical fruit. If real apples were this exquisite, we'd all be vegetarians.

Willi Schaefer, Mosel, Graacher Domprobst, Riesling Auslese, 2012

More of the same, with, naturally, more pronounced sweetness, a deeper veneer of slate, and so sexy it hurts. (May 9, 2016)

Weingut Josef Leitz, Rheingau, Rüdesheimer Berg Schloßberg, Riesling Spätlese, 2007

This is at the point where the intense sweetness and fruit are starting to recede, their memory being replaced by nuanced aromas of minerals and petrol (that gain presence and power with air), only to have the fruit reappear on the finish as red apples and sweet grapefruit. This is great, although not in the way the Sistine Chapel is great, more in the way sunsets are great.

Schloss Gobelsburg, Kamptal Reserve, Gaisberg 1er Lage, Riesling, 2010

I've been drinking this for over four years, and in the flush of youth it was perched exquisitely mid-way between a crystalline expression of green apples and icy slate and the quintessential spicy baked apples so typical of Austrian Rieslings. Now the balance has shifted towards the baked apples. As a matter of personal taste, I prefer the earlier incarnation. It was just as deep and complex four years ago so cellaring my six pack didn't really so much for it, except prolonging the drinking experience, which in itself was a good thing.

Emrich-Schönleber, Nahe, Monzinger Frühlingsplätzchen, Riesling Spätlese, 2007

I'm lucky in that I enjoy German Rieslings almost equally in all stages of their development. Surely the complexity and depth are there from the start, and so are the flowers and.or minerals (depending on the terroir) and age merely provides additional complexity, breadth and the taint of maturity. But there's a sweet spot, about 8-9 years after the harvest for spätleses, where the intensity of youth is balanced by a certain sauteed herbaceousness, and where the real magic begins, right there where Riesling starts speaking in tongues. That's what we have here, a nose evoking cool, aloof elegance, which I think is the due to minty aromas. There's a bit of dill and parsley in the background. As for form - an almost feathery body belies the tense backbone. A great estate that single-handedly put Mozing on the map.

Wegeler, Mosel, Bernkasteler Doctor, Riesling Spätlese, 2011

Sensationally drinkable, so much so I almost didn't have enough time for a proper note. Enough time, though, to note the typical Model delicacy and slate defined complexity.

Sphera, Riesling, 2015

I wish we were a Riesling country. Then, besides the obvious advantage of have more Rieslings to drink, wine writers could stop prefacing their reviews of the local Riesling stuff with a spiel about the wonder of winemakers actually rising up to the challenge. But we're not a Riesling country, and it is a wonder and a challenge. And, to be quite honest, not a challenge always successfully met. This is a good wine, one that meets the challenge even if it's no GG (Doron Rav-On is the obvious suspect you'd place your bets on to make a good Riesling). It's a dry Riesling, one that leaves a salty impression on the finish and a decently complex array of minerals on the nose. (Jul. 11, 2016)

Selbach-Oster, Mosel, Riesling Brut, 2013

This sekt is more about Riesling and Mosel than the autolytic character of méthode champenoise, the Mosel green apples set to bubbles, mint and minerals, dominating the traces of brioche. What the secondary fermentation does provide, I find, is a more somber aspect to the mineral edge, even though the fruit itself retains the playful Mosel character. (

Nice notes, Chaim.

My Riesling purchases are becoming more and more dry and I particularly like the sound of those two Austrians. I would probably share your preference for the Schloss Gobelsburg in its earlier incarnation. I was recently disappointed by a '06 Hirtzberger Singerriedel which I felt had become a bit flabby with age.

Thanks, Tim.

[Robin Garr]

Great set of notes to wrap up the month, Chaim. Thanks! Actually, the topic seems to have so much energy that we're going to continue it through August alongside the new Wine Focus on Beaujolais and Gamay in general.

[David M. Bueker]

Nice notes, Chaim.

My Riesling purchases are becoming more and more dry and I particularly like the sound of those two Austrians. I would probably share your preference for the Schloss Gobelsburg in its earlier incarnation. I was recently disappointed by a '06 Hirtzberger Singerriedel which I felt had become a bit flabby with age.

2006 is such a ripe vintage in Austria (pretty much all regions), so I am not surprised you found the Hortzberger too soft.

Nice notes, Chaim.

My Riesling purchases are becoming more and more dry and I particularly like the sound of those two Austrians. I would probably share your preference for the Schloss Gobelsburg in its earlier incarnation. I was recently disappointed by a '06 Hirtzberger Singerriedel which I felt had become a bit flabby with age.

Agree, nice notes Chaim. Some names there that appear in my cellar..maybe not the same wines. Do your countrymen enjoy riesling overall and which style do they prefer?

[David M. Bueker]

Chaim,

I agree with your reaction to that 2012 Willi Schaefer. Have you had many opportunities to sample the vintage from Schaefer? In my opinion the 2012s represent one of the best ever collections from a middle Mosel producer.

This year is the 40th anniversary of my graduation from college, so I opened an Adam Albert 1976 Hattenheimer Wisselbrunnen Riesling Auslese to celebrate. It's an absolutely astounding expression of Rheingau riesling from a top vineyard and top producer. Botrytis hit very hard in 1976, and in many cases it was too much of a good thing. Getting the acidity and sugar in balance, and avoiding shoe polish and road tar, was a challenge and there were a lot of overweight, flabby 1976s. But this wine is still coasting at its peak after 40 years. I was especially impressed by the perfect balance of concentrated fruit flavors, sweetness, and acidity. It dances on the palate and then opens into a long, fantastic finish. The botrytis is there, but it blends in as a touch of dried apricot rather than shoe polish. I always regarded Heinz Albert as one of the top vintners in Germany, and this is one of his top efforts. Triple Curly with an extra woo-woo-woo!

-Paul W.

My past experiences with 1976 are vivid in my mind. Must check my cellar book to see which ones .

[David M. Bueker]

2013 Dönnhoff Norheimer Kirschheck Riesling Spätlese - Germany, Nahe (8/1/2016)
Wow - how did I go nearly 2 years before opening another bottle of this beauty. I first opened one in late 2014, and it was bright energy and peach/cherry fruit. Last night it was nearly unchanged - just electrically charged fruit with a red mineral backbone. It took us an hour to blow through the bottle. I wish it had been a magnum!

When I saw this as the focus of the month I didn't expect to be contributing. I just don't 'get' it except as a dessert wine, Noble LH or ice-wine, and I don't have a single one in my cellar.

However I tasted a few and bought one during last month's river cruise on the Danube and Rhine from Budapest to Amsterdam.
I tasted a Riesling, Sylvaner and Muller-Thurgau in a winery shop in the Franken and preferred the Sylvaner so I have a bocksbottle of that back home - where I found the pundits generally rate Sylvaner higher than Riesling in Franken. But I mislaid the notes on this tasting. A couple of Rieslings were served on the boat but I didn't take notes and apart from a glass of each I stuck with reds.

But I took a side trip up the Mosel from the Rhine to the town of Winningen. The river bank vineyard on the stretch called Uhlan Terrassen, or owl terraces, and they are some of Germanys steepest vineyards, with slopes at an angle of 65 degrees.

In Winningin I tasted two Rieslings at Richard Richter Weingut

The winery was founded in 1838 and is run today by Thomas and Claus-Martin Richter who tend the vines and make their wines.

They own 20 acres of vineyards growing mostly Riesling with Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. 12% of their production is used for sparkling wines made by the traditional method, and by hand – meaning that bottles are riddled in the old manner rather than by machine.

Richard Richter 2015 Uhlen Terrassen Riesling Trocken. This is from their premium vineyards and was crisp dry with good fruit balance. A mouth-watering wine that I bought and had with dinner on the boat a few days later. 13%abv, RS 5.5g/L, acidity 7.6g/L €16.50

Richard Richter 2015 Terra-V. Terrassen Riesling feinherb. The ‘V’ is short for Vulcan, referring to the volcanic subsoil of this vineyard. This wine, marked as ‘medium-dry’ was noticeably sweeter than the previous, it had an underlying core of acidity–Riesling is a very acidic variety–with tropical fruits and met favour with most in the cellar but was too sweet for me. 11.5%abv, RS 30.6g/L, acidity 7g/L €16.50

[David M. Bueker]

I tasted a Riesling, Sylvaner and Muller-Thurgau in a winery shop in the Franken and preferred the Sylvaner so I have a bocksbottle of that back home - where I found the pundits generally rate Sylvaner higher than Riesling in Franken.

From specific producers in specific sites. Not generally.

For the Riesling focus I opened three different wines from Josef Leitz Weingut over the month of July. I was disappointed in the 2014 Eins Zwei Dry 3 Riesling, Rheingau, even as an entry-level wine. And although the point of the name is a dry wine, it tasted to me as if it had some residual sugar. I much preferred a bottle of the 2015 Leitz Dragonsone Riesling, Rheingau, Germany. A.P. Nr. 24 074 016 16, labeled as 10% abv. Straw to medium gold color under different lighting conditions. Such an easy sipper that I found myself taking big swallows rather than "sipping." Very balanced. Slightly tart on the palate with tart apple flavor and a bit of lemon-lime squirt also. Very attractive and such a good QPR. I paired it with a baked chicken dish. I also opened a bottle of 2012 Rudesheimer Berg Roseneck Riesling Spatlese, my second bottle of three. I can't find my notes for it. With the first bottle I thought there were possibly some pear notes but this time I thought it came closer to peach and nectarine flavors. Again I thought it showed good balance and was quite attractive. I'm now enjoying a Brouilly for Gamay focus and will report on it later.

Bravo JC, one Leitz fan to another .

Franken is Sylvaner country, just not exclusively. Posted from the Bayerische Genussfestival with a glass of Mey Rothlauff GG and a Stein GG.

Winfried

[David M. Bueker]

2001 Weingut Karlsmühle Kaseler Nies'chen Riesling Auslese Lange Goldkapsel - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer (8/7/2016)
Last night was the perfect time to drink this wine. Of course I first had to get at it. The cork came out fine, but there was 1/4 inch thick plug of tartrate crystals that I had to shatter in order to get any wine to pour.

Once I took care of that and let the crystals settle I took a pour. The wine was a lovely golden color, and the aromatic mixture of spice, nectarine, lime and dried leaves was a perfect expression of mature Auslese. Still quite sweet on the palate, the wine was a good match with our spicy Thai curry, and also a lovely after dinner wine where it served as a dessert.

If you have this wine I would recommend opening one, as it's in a great place.

I opened a 2001 von Hoevel Sharzhofberger Riesling Kabinett yesterday. A very pleasant surprise for a 15 year old white wine. A bit of spritz, inviting aroma, nicely balanced mature riesling flavors that say "Sharzhofberger" to me. The finish is a bit tart and appley, but that is my only criticism. The bottle still had the original price sticker on it: US$12.50. I think I got a good deal. Double Larry Moe.

-Paul W.

[David M. Bueker]

I still have one of those. Thanks!

[David M. Bueker]

2014 Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese feinherb Ur Alte Reben - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer (8/12/2016)
From very old vines, this wine displays a richness/density that is countered by a brightness in the mid-palate and finish that makes it a fabulous dinner companion. Fruit, floral and mineral aspects are accented with little bits of herb and spice. The finish displays a round aspect and a creamy richness that buffers the acidity and shows off yet another facet of Riesling. This is a very complex, interesting wine that is delicious now and has years of potential improvement.

I have been waiting a long time for the 2014 vintage to show up here on the shelf. Local winebar was pouring the previous vintage so took the plunge!

2013 Schloss Lieser Riesling Kabinett, M-S-R.

Very pale color, apple and pineapple on the nose. Initial entry thought is screaming acidity which is very pronounced. Pear and lemon, have to wonder about the future of this wine? One bottle in the cellar, might outlive me .