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Wine Focus for September: Riesling

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Re: Wine Focus for September: Riesling

by Bob Parsons Alberta » Sun Sep 19, 2010 12:54 am

WTN: `94 Joh. Jos. Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spatlese, M-S-R.

I have cellared for 9 yrs, leaking bottle, 8% alc, A.P.Nr 2576 511-18.97. $30 Cdn, cork easy to extract and seems like no damage as wine was delicious.

Color. Medium gold, no crystals noted.
Nose. Hint of gasolein, honeysuckle, tropical fruits, no sulphur (thinking of Salil`s `94 Auslesen). White stonefruit.."peach minerals" from across the table.
Palate. Quite delicious, not that sweet really, great acidity , long long finish, honeyed, peach. Drinking so nicely now and not too cloying when served nicely chilled. Day 2 we found papaya and a more limey tone. Some botrytis plus butterscotch. I do not have that much experience with old German wines but this was great! I love the complexity on the finish and it held up so well overnight.
Bravo JJ.
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Re: Wine Focus for September: Riesling

by David M. Bueker » Sun Sep 19, 2010 8:30 am

Those leakers show pretty well most of the time. :D
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Re: Wine Focus for September: Riesling

by Ian Sutton » Sun Sep 19, 2010 9:37 am

It must have been ages since I've opened a wine to match the monthly wine focus :oops: Even this one isn't right on theme.

2003 Tim Adams Riesling - Australia, South Australia, Mount Lofty Ranges, Clare Valley (9/13/2010)
pale lemon-straw colour and showing lighter at the rim.

Quite complex yet forthright nose. Lemon, some petrol, some lime and a faint hint of butter.

On the palate it's vibrant, but the punchiness is nicely balanced by a more genteel finish of lemon-butter, honey and a touch of nut emerging as the finish slowly fades. There's also a subtle/gentle waxy element to the texture that thankfully doesn't go too far.

All in all, this seems to be in a very interesting place at the moment, having a foot in the youthful past and the other in the mature future. A good place to catch it, but it's not likely to find a cliff to fall off in the next 5 years either.
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Re: Wine Focus for September: Riesling

by David M. Bueker » Sun Sep 19, 2010 12:00 pm

That was very much on theme Ian. We've had a lot of Aussie Riesling this month.
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Re: Wine Focus for September: Riesling

by Salil » Sun Sep 19, 2010 12:06 pm

Two more from dinner last night.

2007 Dönnhoff Schloßböckelheimer Felsenberg Riesling Großes Gewächs
Tremendous. A spectrum of bright, fresh fruit combined with intense stony mineral and gentle floral elements in a seamless, incredibly polished whole. Everything here is in perfect balance and proportion, and given how well this is drinking right now I will have a hard time keeping my hands off other bottles. A stunning foil for the pan roasted quail.

2009 Peter Lauer Ayler Kupp Riesling Senior Faß 6
Kicks ass again. Made of the same bright fruit, minerality and electric acids as the last bottle I encountered, but the fruit here seemed even more piercingly bright and precise. Delicious.
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Re: Wine Focus for September: Riesling

by Salil » Sun Sep 19, 2010 12:11 pm

David M. Bueker wrote:2006 F.X. Pichler Riesling Smaragd Loibner Berg
This wine could have been great. The initial aromatics and flavors are beguiling. The breadth of texture is lovely. Then the alcohol kicks in and ruins everything. It's "Absolut Riesling." Damn. I am convinced once again that evn dry Riesling should never have more than 12.5 or maybe 13% alcohol. 12% is better.

Ack. How much was the alcohol level on this?
I normally love FX's wines, but I thought some of his 06s were a bit on the ripe/alcoholic side (and I've always found Loibnerberg one of his hottest/ripest wines).

I'm buying his wines less and less now though, with most of the recent releases either the alcohol or pricing has been a turn-off (thought I thought some of his 07s were stellar, particularly Kellerberg). In contrast hunting down more of the Leitz alte rebens - the Rottland '07 I opened a few days back was right in my sweet spot for that style, and the alcohol was only 12.5!
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Re: Wine Focus for September: Riesling

by David M. Bueker » Sun Sep 19, 2010 12:23 pm

The Pichler was 14% and I could taste every single molecule of it.

That Lauer sounds good. We've had the Fass 12 right?
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Re: Wine Focus for September: Riesling

by Salil » Sun Sep 19, 2010 12:34 pm

We had the '08 Fass 6 (Senior). I've not yet been compelled to buy on the higher end Lauer bottlings, though I may in '09 - the basic 'Senior' this year is tremendous.

(Aside: The Felsenberg GG was 13.5%, felt much lighter. But it's Donnhoff...)
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Re: Wine Focus for September: Riesling

by Tim York » Sun Sep 19, 2010 2:31 pm

Ockfener Bockstein Riesling Spätlese - 006 - 2003 – St.Urbans-Hof, Nic.Weis – Alc.8%.
I don’t think that, blind, I would ever have guessed that this was a Mosel wine and still less from its Saar tributary. This is hardly a surprise, though, from 2003; I tasted a lot of them during a visit to the region in 2004 and I would have situated most of them from several hundred kilometres to the south with a much rounder and less brightly focussed character than is typical. In spite of the extra years gone by this one was little different.

Colour was still quite pale and the aromas emphasised oriental spices, tropical fruit and flowers with all the usual mineral components except petrol very muted. The palate was light to medium in body, medium sweet in taste with some underlying roundness, the floral and spice components much more pronounced than in most years and very little of Mosel’s typical mouth-watering acidity and slate and the Saar’s steely brilliance. Nevertheless it showed an unusual and quite attractive facet of the region’s possibilities and I don’t regret having these bottles. It is hard to know where this wine will go. Will the sugars moderate bringing forward what acids are there or the reverse? I think that it’s safer to drink up soon; 15.5/20.
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Re: Wine Focus for September: Riesling

by Bob Parsons Alberta » Sun Sep 19, 2010 9:42 pm

http://translate.google.ca/translate?hl ... n%26sa%3DG

Tim, what is the track record of this house? There are a few wines here in Edmonton, must be a progressive agent I think. Maybe I can find something off-dry!
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Re: Wine Focus for September: Riesling

by Bob Parsons Alberta » Sun Sep 19, 2010 9:47 pm

David M. Bueker wrote:That was very much on theme Ian. We've had a lot of Aussie Riesling this month.


David, we have only just got started! More BC wines to come as well.

Looking back at the Finger Lakes thread, I was wondering David if these wines are meant to be drunk on release or can they take some cellaring? I think some of the newer/drier BC rieslings can cellar a while.
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Re: Wine Focus for September: Riesling

by Tim York » Mon Sep 20, 2010 2:27 am

Bob Parsons Alberta. wrote:http://translate.google.ca/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://www.urbans-hof.de/&ei=YbuWTJ2mJZKjnQetkOWqCA&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBwQ7gEwAA&prev=/search%3Fq%3DSt.Urbans-Hof%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG

Tim, what is the track record of this house? There are a few wines here in Edmonton, must be a progressive agent I think. Maybe I can find something off-dry!


Bob, this is the only vintage I have from this estate so I can't give personal experience of other vintages. This 2003 was far sweeter than my definition of "off-dry". It is a very well regarded estate which I visited in 2004 with two or three of very expert wine pals. If I remember rightly, we were too late to get appointments with Theo Haart and went here instead. We were very kindly received by Nik Weis who speaks good English, though some others in our party did not need that.
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WTN: 2000 Domaine Weinbach Riesling Grand Cru Schlossberg

by David M. Bueker » Mon Sep 20, 2010 7:50 pm

Just the Schlossberg, not a select bottling.

Golden in color and somewhat golden in aromatics, this bottle has advanced to full maturity, with a generous dose of Riesling petrol, rich yet completely dry fruit and a bracing minerality and tart citrus finish. For those who find so much Alsatian wine too sweet these days, this is very much not! Very good+ and for drinking now.
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Re: Wine Focus for September: Riesling

by Salil » Mon Sep 20, 2010 9:26 pm

Glad it showed well. I have had some hit and miss experiences with Alsace and Austrian 00s.

Meanwhile, a 2008 Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Rotlay is delicious as ever - fresh, elegant, full of fruit and slate on a rich but very elegant frame.
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Re: Wine Focus for September: Riesling

by ChaimShraga » Tue Sep 21, 2010 5:19 pm

Notes from a George Breuer Tasting:

Rauenthal, Nonnenberg, Erst Gewachs, 2005

Elegant nose, starts austere with green apples and lovely hints of minerals that grow more pronounced as it opens. The palate has a rough edge, there is a very nice green apple driven acidity but there is a raspy bitterness on the finish that makes for a pinching effect. Picks up some complexity as it opens but still too young and shut for me to succumb.

Terra Montosa, 2008

This blend of different vineyards has residual sugar which is obvious even though the wine feels only a step between dry and off dry. The nose here is fruitier, friendlier than the previous entry while the wine is much more open and ready on the palate. Apple driven, and monolithically so, whereas the Nonnenberg had more nuances. In the end, there is something too simple on the palate for my taste, without any youthful zest to take up the slack.

Rauenthal, Nonnenberg, Erst Gewachs, 2007

The nose and palate, surprisingly, are both more open and complex than the 2005, with spicy nuances, as well as being sweeter and fruitier. The 2005 might have the more challenging structure, and in a sense the 07 is a limpid sort of fellow, but its roundness has great charm without the older vintage's roughness and has appealing aromatic complexity.

Rudesheimer, Berg Roseneck, Erst Gewachs, 2007

Ah, what a great nose - complex, detailed, morphing the apples at its core into something that owes more to gunpowder and flint than to fruit. The palate has greater balance than anything yet, and by far too! - with a bite on the finish that belies the preceeding harmony. All of which are tempered by a sweetness that comes from the fruit, not any RS.

Since I prefer it to the Nonnenberg, I like the fact that the Roseneck is lower priced.

Rudesheimer, Berg Rottland, Erst Gewachs, 2007

This wine doesn't evolve a lot even with time and air and while it shows a regal personality with a savory saline finish, it doesn't have the same exciting wow factor as the Roseneck. But it's still the 2nd best dry wine of the night.

Rauenthal, Nonnenberg, Auslese Goldkapsel, 2007

This has the marmalade/tofee nose I expect from, and love in, a dessert wine, with botrytis funk to boot: you can smell its breed! Doesn't hurt that the palate has better acidity than a Sauternes. Lovely. Outstanding. The Poison Ivy to my Carl Gardner.
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Re: Wine Focus for September: Riesling

by Andrew Bair » Tue Sep 21, 2010 9:18 pm

Salil wrote:Two more from dinner last night.

2007 Dönnhoff Schloßböckelheimer Felsenberg Riesling Großes Gewächs
Tremendous. A spectrum of bright, fresh fruit combined with intense stony mineral and gentle floral elements in a seamless, incredibly polished whole. Everything here is in perfect balance and proportion, and given how well this is drinking right now I will have a hard time keeping my hands off other bottles. A stunning foil for the pan roasted quail.

2009 Peter Lauer Ayler Kupp Riesling Senior Faß 6
Kicks ass again. Made of the same bright fruit, minerality and electric acids as the last bottle I encountered, but the fruit here seemed even more piercingly bright and precise. Delicious.


Salil - Glad that you enjoyed the 2007 Dönnhoff Felsenberg . I completely agree with you that it is a really impressive wine.

Anyway, I will have to try and track down some of the Lauers sometime, which probably means a trip back to New York.
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Re: Wine Focus for September: Riesling

by Andrew Bair » Tue Sep 21, 2010 9:23 pm

ChaimShraga wrote:Notes from a George Breuer Tasting:

Rauenthal, Nonnenberg, Erst Gewachs, 2005

Elegant nose, starts austere with green apples and lovely hints of minerals that grow more pronounced as it opens. The palate has a rough edge, there is a very nice green apple driven acidity but there is a raspy bitterness on the finish that makes for a pinching effect. Picks up some complexity as it opens but still too young and shut for me to succumb.

Terra Montosa, 2008

This blend of different vineyards has residual sugar which is obvious even though the wine feels only a step between dry and off dry. The nose here is fruitier, friendlier than the previous entry while the wine is much more open and ready on the palate. Apple driven, and monolithically so, whereas the Nonnenberg had more nuances. In the end, there is something too simple on the palate for my taste, without any youthful zest to take up the slack.

Rauenthal, Nonnenberg, Erst Gewachs, 2007

The nose and palate, surprisingly, are both more open and complex than the 2005, with spicy nuances, as well as being sweeter and fruitier. The 2005 might have the more challenging structure, and in a sense the 07 is a limpid sort of fellow, but its roundness has great charm without the older vintage's roughness and has appealing aromatic complexity.

Rudesheimer, Berg Roseneck, Erst Gewachs, 2007

Ah, what a great nose - complex, detailed, morphing the apples at its core into something that owes more to gunpowder and flint than to fruit. The palate has greater balance than anything yet, and by far too! - with a bite on the finish that belies the preceeding harmony. All of which are tempered by a sweetness that comes from the fruit, not any RS.

Since I prefer it to the Nonnenberg, I like the fact that the Roseneck is lower priced.

Rudesheimer, Berg Rottland, Erst Gewachs, 2007

This wine doesn't evolve a lot even with time and air and while it shows a regal personality with a savory saline finish, it doesn't have the same exciting wow factor as the Roseneck. But it's still the 2nd best dry wine of the night.

Rauenthal, Nonnenberg, Auslese Goldkapsel, 2007

This has the marmalade/tofee nose I expect from, and love in, a dessert wine, with botrytis funk to boot: you can smell its breed! Doesn't hurt that the palate has better acidity than a Sauternes. Lovely. Outstanding. The Poison Ivy to my Carl Gardner.




Hi Chaim -

Thanks for the interesting notes. I have had regrettably little from Breuer, and am definitely hoping to try more of their wines in the future.
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Re: Wine Focus for September: Riesling

by Andrew Bair » Tue Sep 21, 2010 9:30 pm

A few more Rieslings from this month:

2005 Mathern Niederhäuser Kertz Riesling Kabinett

Nose of apple pie. Medium-bodied, ripe and round, yet simultaneously crisp and delicate. Nicely balanced, with good underlying acidity, and even a little more spritzy than usual for German Riesling. Tastes of apples, strawberries, kiwifruit, and baking spices, with a light, pleasant minerality. Finishes with a note of gingersnaps. Very good. If this wine is indicative of what Mathern was making after Helmut Mathern passed away, then I hope that they latch onto another American importer. The only real issue that I have is with the synthetic cork, which is why I opened it now instead of giving it a few more years.

2004 F.X. Pichler Loibner Steinertal Riesling Smaragd

Medium-bodied, bone dry, sleek, with racy acidity. Powerfully mineral, with a precision that almost evokes a cut gemstone, becoming creamier on the midpalate. Shows notes of white peaches, citrus fruits, mixed peppercorns, smoke, and baking spices, but the complex minerality is the real standout here. Good length on the spicy finish. Excellent.

2003 Fred Prinz Hallgartener Jungfer Riesling Spätlese Goldkapsel
Stony, spicy nose. Full, creamy, fat, and a bit viscous, perhaps, with moderate acidity – less acidity that you would find in a good Spätlese or Auslese from a more typical vintage, however. Citrusy/tropical, with pleasant minerality in the background, and some herbal/spicy and custard notes. The weight and sweetness make this a dessert wine.

1995 Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt Josephshöfer Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel
Surprisingly advanced medium amber color belies a wine that is quite lively and nicely structured. Nose of honey and tropical fruits; some apparent botrytis. Fruity, full-bodied, lightly to moderately sweet, with crisp acidity and edgy minerality. Almost Vin Santo-like in terms of flavor, with notes of apricots, citrus fruit, orange marmalade, sweetened iced tea, and birch beer, plus a subtle earthiness. Mineral-driven finish, with hints of cloves and vanilla.

1976 Forstmeister Geltz-Zilliken Saarburger Bergschlößchen Riesling Auslese #4

From 700 ml bottle. Nose of coffee, botrytis, caramel, and beeswax; very little petrol. Moderately viscous, sweet, yet showing a pillowy texture full of finesse; nicely balanced, focused, with good underlying acidity. Honeyed, mineral, with flavors of citrus and tropical fruit, mocha, allspice, and vanilla. Excellent.
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Re: Wine Focus for September: Riesling

by Salil » Tue Sep 21, 2010 9:53 pm

This evening:

2001 Dr. Loosen Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Spätlese Goldkapsel Auction was oxidized. Ugh.

But the 1998 Kruger-Rumpf Münsterer Dautenpflänzer Riesling Spätlese was very pretty; lightweight to the point that it felt like a Kabinett in the mouth but with lovely developed petrolly/smoky elements around fresh citrus and pear fruit and a minerally base.
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Re: Wine Focus for September: Riesling

by David M. Bueker » Wed Sep 22, 2010 7:21 am

That Loosen sure was disappointing. I will have to dredge up another bottle (they are mostly buried, deep in the cellar) to see if it's an isolated incident or a trend.

I liked the Kruger-Rumpf a lot, and wish I had been able to spend more time with it. It was more like a modern kabinett feinherb in its profile, but that's why I like years such as 1998 so much.
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Re: Wine Focus for September: Riesling

by JC (NC) » Wed Sep 22, 2010 12:48 pm

2004 Muller Catoir Riesling Trocken Haardter Burgergarten Spatlese, AP # 5174079 09 05, Pfalz, Germany.
A Terry Theise Selection imported by Michael Skurnik Wines
Cork broke into two pieces and I pushed the lower portion back into the bottle and poured around it.
Light gold coloring. Pleasing stony impression with hints of grapefruit and lemon drops. Balanced. One of the "stonier" Rieslings I've had in recent weeks. Paired well wtih breaded tilapia and pretty well with wheat thins and cream cheese with chives. The slightly austere wine was a counterpoint to the richness and creaminess of the reduced-fat cream cheese.
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Re: Wine Focus for September: Riesling

by David Lole » Wed Sep 22, 2010 6:55 pm

A 1994 German last night - Maximin Grunhauser MSR Abtsberg Auslese Fuder 45 - with scrumptuous dumplings at dinner with friends at a very classy Chinese restaurant. Beautiful wine, still an incredible limey green colour, magnificent aromatics of lime, peach and guava with some haunting slatey/petrolly top notes followed by an equally impressive palate showing amazing purity of similarly-etched ripe fruit and a clean, tight and crisp acid-laden finish. About 93 points and will last for at least another decade and a half if well-stored. Quite brilliant sweet Auslese.
Cheers,

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Re: Wine Focus for September: Riesling

by David M. Bueker » Wed Sep 22, 2010 8:07 pm

Ah early-mid '90s Grunhaus. Those wines are not only from a great era for the house, but at 15 or so years old they are in the prime of life. I rarely open Grunhaus, as I am always waiting for the right moment.
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Re: Wine Focus for September: Riesling

by David Lole » Wed Sep 22, 2010 10:51 pm

Leo Buring Leonay Watervale Riesling DW F18 2002

After the outstanding 2003 Eden Valley Riesling from the same maker earlier [last] week, I thought I'd broach the more celebrated vintage - the 2002, but this time from the Clare Valley tonight [Sunday].

Unfortunately, not a great deal to report just at the minute. This is reductive as blazes and although this awful predominance is found mostly in the bouquet, I will give the wine a chance to let this rubbery crap blow off and come back to it tomorrow.

Monday night .... thankfully, this has now lost the bulk of the sulphur problems (reduction). Lime green colour, piercing aromatics of lime, a striking minerality - you can almost smell the rocks this wine was born from followed by a distant herbal edge that comes in as a top note, along with the merest hint of rubber and sulphur to spoil the party. The palate still tight and unyielding albeit riddled with classy lime fruit and bucketloads of mouth-searing acidity preventing the fruit from making a full and proper statement. This wine could be something very special in time but is showing all too little just at the moment to provide much drinking pleasure. Not rated until I see how it goes over the next day or two.

Thursday afternoon .... Now open for 5 days, this wine has, remarkably, jost got better and better. Simply amazing to smell and taste today, with immaculate purity from start to finish. Tastes likes it's a year or two old. All reduction now dissipated. Scored at 95 points, today! If you open one with the same reductive characters, just leave it in the fridge for 5 days! This is an Australian classic in the making.
Cheers,

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