Short notes from a tasting of new samples at Lemuria.
Freie Weingartner Wachau Gruner Veltliner Federspiel Terassen 2005 - Spicy, with herbal and lemon notes on the nose. Dry and very crisp but still fleshy with a good amount of fruit. The acid seems to soften with airing allowing the fruit to emerge. Sour candy finish. Quite long. A food wine that makes good drinking now.
Gernot Heinrich Blaufrankisch Burgenland 2004 - Glass stopper bottle. Very dark. Sweet ripe nose that is echoed on the palate. Dry, with good acid structure but rather soft tannins. Very easy to drink and a good food wine. I don't think this is for aging, though.
Gunderloch Jean Baptiste Riesling Kabinett 2005 - Quite light. Prickly on the tongue. Rather delicate wine with some good complexity. Has a bit of sweetness to balance the acidity.
Gunderloch Riesling Spatlese 2005 - No vineyard or village stated. Scent of flowers on the nose. Sweet and ripe with good balancing acidity. Seems light for a spatlese. Finishes a bit simple. A far cry from their Nackenheimer Rothenburg wines.
Some other wines we tried were decent Prahova Pinot Noir Reserve wines from 2002 and 2003 and the Jip Jip Rocks Limestone Coast Shiraz 2005 and Jip Jip Rocks Limestone Coast Chardonnay 2005.
The Chardonnay was quite good with some orange notes hung on a slightly fat frame. The Shiraz, on the other hand, was an over extracted monster with the consistency of syrup and a sweetness to match. Flabby and with alcohol at 15%, I could hardly get the stuff down.