Josef Leitz (Rheingau) Riesling QbA Trocken 2006 was melony and a bit tart yet curiously full bodied - not very well balanced IMO.
Leitz "Magic Mountain" Riesling Trocken 2006 was well balanced, but rather weighty and a bit on the simple side. Enjoyable.
Leitz Rüdesheimer Berg Rottland Riesling trocken "Alte Reben" 2006 was nicely mineral, full bodied and rather forceful, but with some really attractive red toned, baked brick scents. Not bad for a trocken (I'm a bit biased against this style).
Leitz Rüdesheimer Berg Kaiserstenfels Riesling feinherb "Alte Reben" 2006 was pure in its aromatics yet very weighty. It has a nice touch of sweetness and enough acidity to keep it from being cumbersome, but frankly I would still like a bit less weight.
Leitz Rüdesheimer Berg Schlossberg Riesling Spätlese Goldkapsel 2006 is like an Auslese and perhaps has a touch of Botrytis; it is heavy and sweet yet balanced due to acidity.
Leitz Rüdesheimer Berg Schlossberg Beerenauslese 2006 was a lovely wine, but strange for a BA IMO for having so little Botrytis character - rather it had great purity of Rieslingness and great intensity on the palate. It is a rather heavy wine, but I liked it.
Ratzenberger (Mittelrhein) Bacharacher Kloster Fürstental Riesling Sekt Brut 2001 was lovely as always: ripe strawberry and stone dust on the nose, good acidity and vibrant fruit, elegant mousse. Long.
Ratzenberger Steeger St. Jost Riesling Kabinett halbtrocken 2005 had a nose of crystallised fruit and though it was perhaps a bit fruitheavy at the moment, it was still a charming drink.
Ratzenberger Steeger St. Jost Riesling Spätlese trocken 2005 is a successful trocken: a pure and mineral nose; fruity enough that it doesn't cry out for sugar as so many German trockens do. Nice grip also.
Ratzenberger Bacharacher Wolfshöhle Riesling *** Grosses Gewächs 2005 was quite odd: a very sweet nose with a touch of Botrytis, promising a sweet wine, but the palate was dry but very full bodied and ripely fruity. It doesn't show much minerality, though. Strange wine, but also strangely compelling.
Ratzenberger Bacharacher Wolfshöhle Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel 2005 is lemony, bright and refreshing for an '05 (or then the '06 Leitzes I had just tasted made it seem so). Sweet and lovable.
Ratzenberger Bacharacher Kloster Fürstental Riesling Eiswein 2004 is very expressive and pure Riesling, full of crystallised lemons; lovely, sherbetty palate. It has 12g/l acidity, but frankly I think a bit more wouldn't hurt it - but it is really enjoyable like this also.
Domdechant Werner (Rheingau) Hochheimer Hölle Riesling Kabinett trocken 2006 has a pure and mineral nose - promises to be really lovely, but the palate is rather clunky and short.
Domdechant Werner Hochheimer Kirchenstück Riesling Spätlese trocken 2006 has a mute nose (served too cold), but a very mineral palate which has enough fruit to counter my (admittedly biased) aversion towards trockens - but, alas, the aftertaste dropped off a cliff.
Domdechant Werner Hochheimer Kirchenstück Riesling Erstes Gewächs 2006 has a touch of Botrytis, is mineral, dry and full bodied and balanced, if rather charmless.
Domdechant Werner Hochheimer Hölle Riesling Kabinett 2006 is pure and simple, a touch sweet, pleasant but not terribly exciting.
Domdechant Werner Hochheimer Domdechaney Riesling Spätlese 2004 is really enjoyable: an expressive and classically delineated nose; slight sweetness (or probably quite a bit of RS but enough acidity to make it seem just slight), crystallised fruit - maybe an easy, not the most demanding or intellectual style of Riesling, but it still is a real joy to drink. I wouldn't mind a couple bottles of this in my cellar.
Domdechant Werner Hochheimer Domdechaney Riesling Auslese 2005 is nice and weighty, pure in its aromatics, not as acidic as I hoped, but still balanced - showing a bit too fat at the moment as are so many '05s. Not bad at all.
I have not usually been terribly excited by this property, but they certainly weren't bad on this showing. How do the Riesling fanatics view them? Is there an upturn with this property?
Fritz Haag (Mosel) QbA Riesling trocken 2005 has a nice, restrained nose, but is a bit tart.
Fritz Haag Brauneberger Juffer Riesling Kabinett 2005 is pure and sweetish, friendly and a great deal of fun.
Fritz Haag Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese 2005 is rather weighty for a Spätlese, but is pure in its aromatics and has adequate structure - it is quite an impressive wine, but has to diet for my tastes.
Forstmeister Geltz-Zilliken (Mosel) "Butterfly" QbA Riesling feinherb 2006 had an off-puttingly yeasty nose and a tart palate. Pass.
Geltz-Zilliken Saarburger Rausch Riesling Spätlese 2002 is a rather weighty wine IMO for an '02, but with pure aromatics and a vibrant palate. I rather liked it, but perhaps isn't still the style I would most like in my cellar.
Geltz-Zilliken Saarburger Rausch Riesling Auslese 2005 is not in an elegant style at all, but rather is fat and clunky, but still has good acidity for the year and is very likable in its own way - I still prefer a sleeker style.
Geltz-Zilliken Saarburger Rausch Riesling Auslese 1993 was really enjoyable. If the above two wines turn out anything like this, my slight misgivings about the style are totally unfounded: slight petrol, elegant yet full bodied, nice grip and very pure and mineral aromatics. Nice!
Egon Müller (Mosel) Scharzhofberger Riesling Kabinett 2006 had the most pure and crystal clear nose of mineral water and wet rocks - so it may be a bit on the heavy side, but my God what precision and purity! I love it.
Emrich-Schönleber (Nahe) Monzinger Frühlingsplatchen Riesling Kabinett trocken 2005 is a rather forceful style, nicely mineral, dry (almost verging on tart but not quite) - very good!
Emrich-Schönleber Halenberg Riesling Auslese 2004 is quite lovely: sweetish and pure and rather weighty. Charming.
Ökonomierat Hansjörg Rebholz (Siebeldingen, Pfalz) Weisserburgunder Kabinett trocken 2005 is full of white flowers and smells of summer and sunlight (not always synonymous up here in the North, lol!). This is really charming.
Rebholz Birkweiler Bundsandstein Riesling Spätlese Trocken 2005 is mineral and dry, forceful and a bit charmless but technically brilliant - perhaps it is just my trocken bias showing again, but I didn't really enjoy this today.
Weingut Georg Mosbacher (Forst, Pfalz) Deidesheimer Leinhöhle Riesling Spätlese trocken 2005 is honeyed and forceful, nice but very full bodied.
Mosbacher Kieselberg Grosses Gewächs Riesling 2004 is precise and pure, mineral and long, very successful - not as charmless as I find many GGs to be, but not really charming either.
Dr. Bürklin-Wolf (Wachenheim, Pfalz) Wachenheimer Riesling trocken 2006 is dry but fruity, red toned in fruit, a bit too heavy at the moment.
Bürklin-Wolf Pechstein GC Riesling 2001 - they have a funny idea of calling it a Grand Cru - it is open aromatically with strawberry and stone dust minerality, pure and weighty. I rather like it.
J. Bäumer (Eltville am Rhin, Rheingau) Qba Riesling 2006 is sweetish and simple. Nothing bad to say about; nothing really memorable to say about it.
Georg Breuer (Rüdesheim, Rheingau) Berg Rottlan Riesling trocken 2005 is very successful for a trocken IMO: pure in aromatics, but friendly and fruity, forceful but not tart - impeccable balance and a great joy to try.
Weingut Wittmann (Westhofen, Rheinhessen) Morstein Westhofen Grosses Gewächs Riesling 2005 is a rather elegant and limpid style of GG, the aftertaste shows a strong mineral presence - quite charming.
-Otto-
Thoughts/questions:
Many of the 2006s seemed a bit cumbersome even though they had good acidity to counter the fruit - where comes the weight?
