Yesterday Laura and I hosted a small group to sample through some 2001 German Rieslings. I had been wanting to do this for a few months, just to get a better handle on what was going on with these wines from the first “vintage of the century” of this century. I’ve poked at a few wines here and there with differing results (too young, early maturing), but there’s been no real pattern. This was the opportunity to see if any theme would develop.
All wines were neither decanted or opened far ahead. All were served blind (except one – a mid-flight replacement), and we had some Riesling-friendly food (crab dip, cheese, sushi, a mildy spicy bean curry) to pair with the wines. The focus was on how are the wines progressing, as such I didn’t take note of specific fruit/floral/minerla aromas or flavors, but tried to keep my impressions on structure, development & future potential.
All wines listed below are 2001 Rieslings, so I will not repeat that in the name of each wine. For those looking closely you will see a predominance of Terry Theise’s producers, as that is what I had most readily available to me in the 2001 vintage. This is certainly not a bad thing, but rather a reflection of my markets in fall of 2002.
Solo trocken flight:
Donnhoff Schlossbockelheimer Felsenberg Spatlese Trocken (Nahe)
Displaying greater depth and mid-palate richness than the last time I had it. This does not have much in terms of secondary flavors, but it does have a creamy mid-palate to go with its fruit and stone flavor base. This seems to be entering early maturity, though it can certainly develop further and keep for many more years.
QbA Flight
Q1: Leitz Rudesheimer Klosterlay QbA (Rheingau)
Q2: Leitz Rudesheimer Drachenstein QbA (Rheingau)
Surely 2001 QbAs would be mature & totally ready to go. Not so fast. These were both still quite young, with vibrant fruit, electric acidity (especially the Klosterlay) and surprisingly different personalities. The Drachenstein was somewhat sweeter, though both were very much in balance and drinking very well, if indeed still young. With the exception of a slight rounding of the fruit and a tiny bit of that mid-palate creaminess these were still very much young wines. They have shed their baby fat, making them very delicious with food. Both wines finished well.
Kabinett Flight
K1: St. Urbans-Hof Piesporter Goldtropfchen Kabinett (Mosel)
K2: J. J. Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Kabinett (Mosel)
K3: Leitz Rudesheimer Magdalenenkreuz Kabinett (Rheingau)
K4: Donnhoff Oberhauser Leistenberg Kabinett (Nahe)
K5: Strub Niersteiner Pettenthal Kabinett (Rheinhessen)
K6: Hexamer Meddersheimer Rheingrafenberg Kabinett (Nahe)
This was the most difficult flight of the evening. For starters the Donnhoff was horribly corked (my fourth bottle out of the case to be corked) and the Strub was covered in volatile acidity for some unknown reason (prior bottles of the Strub have been very fine, so I think it was just a bad bottle). The St. Urbans-Hof was shrouded in sulhpur, something I have not previously encoutnered with Urbans-Hof wines. The remaining three wines were all very fine, and indeed two of them (Prum & Hexamer) were the most “ready to go” of any wines served. The Prum came from a passive cellar, and so is likely more advanced than some botles, but it showed lots of smoke and creaminess along with primary fruit flavors. It was really where I was hoping many of the wines would be in their evolution. The Leitz was bright, fruity, minerally (something this wine had not displayed early in life) and very youthful. It was the surprise of the night in terms of outshining expectations. The Hexamer was very drinkable, retaining lots of fruit, fine acids and perhaps being the most integrated wine of the night. It didn’t have much complexity, but it was very fun to drink.
Spatlese Flight
S1: Spreitzer Oestricher Lenchen Spatlese (Rheingau)
S2: J. J. Christoffel Erdener Treppchen Spatlese (Mosel)
S3: Donnhoff Schlossbockelheimer Kupfergrube Spatlese (Nahe)
S4: Strub Niersteiner Paterberg Spatlese (Rheinhessen)
Another flight where there was little development, except in fits and starts. The Spreitzer was open and fruity, but didn’t really show any complexity from development. It also seemed very integrated, so there might not be a lot of upward potential. It’s drinking quite well, but may never gain much more. Still, the bottle was drained! The Christoffel was astill somewhat closed at first, but it did open up over time. It has begin to develop some smoky complexity, but only a little. There’s still a lot of fruit though, so time is its friend. The Donnhoff also started out closed, but it gained the most over time. Creamy, smoky and very minerally, it had the most complexity behind it still copious fruit. The Strub was the most one-dimensional, but also very enjoyable to drink. I don’t see much upside to holding this wine, but it’s very good now.
Auslese Flight
A1: Dr. Deinhard Deidesheimer Grainhubel Auslese (Pfalz)
A2: J. J. Prum Graacher Himmelreich Auslese (Mosel)
A3: J. J. Christofel Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Auslese* (Mosel)
A4: Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese (Mosel)
Not surprisingly, this was the flight of the night. The Deinhard didn’t quite live up to the other three, but after starting out caramelly and sullen it did open up with some bright peachy fruit. I’m not sure what to make of it, as the fruit was nice, but the opening caramel has me concerned. The Prum was wine of the night by a significant margin. It showed little to no sulphur, but tons of fruit, minerals and balancing acids. It’s a fantastic wine even at this young age (for auslese), but built for the long haul. Both the Christoffel and Selbach were very young as well, but showing more mineral than they did on relase. Still no notable secondary (not that I expected much at the auslese level), but also very drinkable. There’s a lot of fruit and structure to both, so there’s plenty of upside. Not a huge amount of commentary for what was really a stunning group of three wine (the Prum, Christoffel and Selbach) with years ahead of them.
Conclusions
So what did we learn? Well from an active cellar kept at 55 degrees or so these wines are almost all really young. Looking back on my 2001 Riesling experiences so far the only bottles that have shown as totally developed and at peak were the exceptions (more often than not with slightly leaky corks. From these wines, the only one that showed any degree of seepage was the St. Urbans-Hof (a frequent problem with their wines), but it was perhaps the most inaccessible wine of the night.
The wines have shed a great deal of their baby fat, and those who like zippy, rich yet mineral-driven wines will enjoy the 2001s (especially spatlese and below) now. Those looking for additional complexities from age will need to wait longer, as there’s not much there yet. I’m not surprised by that (except perhaps at the QbA and Kabientt levels). Also I didn’t notice any of the Sweet-Tart/Pixie-Stix tartness in the wines that sometimes showed on finishes when they were released. While there may not be much in the way of secondary nuance, flavor and structure integration have happened pretty much across the board. There’s still so much depth and concentration in these wines that I am convinced of their future development potential, but they are moving along at a classically slow pace. Give them time.
). I actually own a bunch of these and would have loved to add some into the line-up and also to have a crack at seeing how some of these are developing (though in my cellar, we'd be showing more advancement, to be sure!).
