Part of the same tasting at Table & Vine as the Budget Austrians post.
2007 Kurt Darting Durkheimer Hochbenn Riesling Kabinett (Pfalz)
Quite tropical & a touch spicy from a little bit of botrytis. There's also a bit of finishing bitterness which could detract for some folks. Good value at $15.99. Screw cap.
2007 J. J. Christoffel Erdener Treppchen Riesling Kabinett (Mosel)
Spicy and slatey with a bit of CO2 spritz that gives it an extra jolt of freshness. Quite a long, citrus dominated finish. I would drink this now to enjoy the extra freshness from the CO2. Screw cap. $24.99, so not as good a value as some other wines in the tasting.
2007 Karlsmuhle Kaseler Nies-chen Riesling Kabinett (Ruwer)
Quite ripe, but not overly rich or sweet. I just found it lacking in acidic structure as it fell a bit flat in the mouth. Screw cap. $19.99.
2007 Willi Schaefer Graacher Domprobst Riesling Kabinett AP#16 (Mosel)
Slatey and apples - a prototype Mosel kabinett wine. Tastes like it was doused in mineral water though not because of any lack of flavor, just the density of minerals. Also under screw cap and probably the best value of the kabinetts considering what was in the bottle for $22.99.
2007 Schmitt-Wagner Longuicher Maximiner Herrenberg Riesling Spatlese (Mosel)
From vines over 100 years old this was gentle yet persistent. Long finish that was touched by a hint of bitter fruit. This was the first bottle of the Germans finished with natural cork, and my first sample was corked (confirmed by Michael and Terry, so not my imagination).
2007 Selbach Saar Riesling Spatlese (Saar)
This was as shown, a negotiant bottling from Selbach (the negotiant arm of Selbach-Oster) that displayed all the Saar virtues of bright acidity, lime and apple fruit and a top end green note that smells like spring. It showed more backbone than some 2007s, so it was more to my personal liking. For $20 this was a killer value in Saar Riesling Spatlese.
2007 Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Schlossberg Riesling Spatlese "Schmitt" (Mosel)
Back to the Selbach-Oster domaine line for what was and still is my wine of the vintage. If the Willi Schaefer was a prototypical Mosel Kabinett, this was a prototype for Mosel Spatlese. Riper fruit flavors (the apples are mingled with peaches), but the same firm mineral base lies at the core of the wine. Great balance, and in the case of this wine, very little if any trapped CO2. It would be hard to come up with a better wine value for $32.99.
2007 Donnhoff Felsenturmchen Riesling Spatlese (Nahe)
From a sub-parcel of the Schlossbockelheimer Felsenberg vineyard, this wine enveloped the sense but gave away no secrets. It was just a cloak of Riesling flavor. At the very end of my sample there was a the tiniest drop of wine in my glass. I tipped up the glass to get that one drop, and the wine exploded with flavor. It doesn't matter what fruits or what kind of stone I thought was lurking in the glass, as this wine was of a single piece. A Laura "wow" wine, and despite being the most expensive wine of the night ($47.99) a tremendous value in great white wine (or any wine).
2007 Kurt Darting Durkheimer Nonnengarten Rieslaner Auslese (Pfalz)
A poster child for the Rieslaner grape. Actually this was more well-mannered than the typical Rieslaner, with less of its scritchy-scratchy acidity, and a more linear, focused beam of flavor. It's also not a riotously ripe and rich as some editions of this wine. For my taste it may be too well mannered. Good wine, and could actually be a bit of a crowd pleaser as a wine in place of dessert, or with fruit and cheese. $29.99
2007 Kurt Darting Durkheimer Fronhof Scheurebe Spatlese (Pfalz)
Got arrested for starting a peaceful riot. When all I wanted was a glass of Scheu
So this is where the riot is going on! Imagine a food fight done completely in tropical fruits. There's mangoes, papaya, passionfruit and pineapples all flying around the room & bits and pieces are landing in the glass. Then Belushi comes over & grins at you. That's this wine. A tremendous value in dessert wine and imagery at $34.99 for 500 ml.
Glad to hear the Schaefer's drinking so well, I've seen some really positive notes on his Kabinetts in 07. Any thoughts on the acidity in that Kabinett? (Quite curious as I had a bottle of the 07 Domprobst Spatlese with Dale Williams and I found it a little on the soft side for my liking.)