2004 Kurt Darting Ungsteiner Honigsäckel Scheurebe Auslese - Germany, Pfalz (7/9/2017)
Hard to believe it's been 10 years since I last opened a bottle of this wine. It was clearly a beerenauselse in 2007, and so it was again when I opened another to accompany some spicy Thai Panang Curry. It may have seemed odd to open essentially a dessert wine for dinner, but the match worked, and worked well. The cool, sweet pink grapefruit and mango tones of the wine played as a counterpoint to the aggressively spiced (my intent) curry. The wine displayed a cooling effect, making the food more enjoyable. On its own the wine served its expect purpose as a dessert, with some sage and spice tones emerging when not competing with the curry.
Overall it's another example of the quality and value from Darting. The wines have often been overlooked because they do not wow, but they do exactly what a wine is meant to do, accompany a meal, and do it with class and grace. Even better is that they never break the bank, not even close. The hallmark of Darting is good wine at a good price, and that's a good thing.