A selection of interesting German Rieslings, served alongside dinner (sushi and noodles for me) at Mei Tzu in East Windsor, CT
2005 Weingut Heymann-Löwenstein Winninger Uhlen Riesling "L" Laubach
Went past this one pretty quickly, as we had a lot of wines to get to, but it showed a striking mid-palate richness, and an overall barely past trocken balance that was quite alluring. I did manage to get a second sip later, confirming that it's in a very nice place right now. I would drink up and enjoy!
2015 J. J. Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett
Bright acidity, light, refreshing and not too sweet, but also not so expressive. Seems to have closed down from its more boisterous youth.
1993 Willi Schaefer Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese
This was captivating. Perfectly stored since release it showed both its pedigree and the care given to its cellaring. Fully mature, with smoke and slate tones taking front and center, but the echoes of the fruit remain. Subtly sweet, and finely balanced. I managed to snag two pours, and treasured every sip. No signs of it tipping over the edge, but drink now because it’s beautiful.
2001 Willi Schaefer Graacher Domprobst Riesling Spätlese
Didn’t snag an AP number, but no matter. This was vibrant, but also not showing much of any developed complexity. It also seemed a tad dry for what it was. It might hollow out before it fully matures. Really nice to drink, but I was expecting more. Granted 2001 was not the best year for Schaefer (outlier!), but it did not compare to the 1993 for my taste.
2003 Dönnhoff Norheimer Dellchen Riesling Spätlese
From magnum, and the glacial cellar of Schloss Bueker, this was only beginning to show meaningful development. The overwhelming richness of its youth had backed off a good bit, exposing a little bit of structure, and allowing the smoky, stony elements of Dellchen to start to peek through. My only magnum (and only remaining bottle), so won't be revisiting, but there's still promise for further cellaring.
2001 J.U.H.A. Strub Niersteiner Paterberg Riesling Spätlese
2001 J.U.H.A. Strub Niersteiner Paterberg Riesling Spätlese***
These two wines were served together, and neither really rang my bell. They were both fairly mature, and the regular was surprisingly sweeter than the three star version. Neither showed much in the way of interesting complexity, they just seemed aged. These were not my bottles, but I suspect they were handled properly. The ’93 Schaefer blew both of these out of the water. Granted both of these wiens were under (or well under) $20 when they came out, but I still expected more. I will be checking my stash soon.
1995 Kerpen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese***
Fully mature, and after it blew off a little bit of bottle grumpiness I thought it was very tasty, in fact right up there near the top of the wines for me. Lots of botrytis and lots of complexity, as well as a clear slate foundation. Only moderately sweet for its pradikat at this point, it was very drinkable as a table wine, especially with my moderately spicy noodle dish. I would drink these soon though, before the botrytis becomes the dominant (or only) note.