WTN: 13 Blind German Wines (Saar, Mosel, Nahe, Rheingau, Pfalz)

[David M. Bueker]

An evening of blind wines at Charles & Glenna Weiss' house (thanks again for hosting!):

We have been doing German Wine Society tastings for 5 years now, so it was time to test folks understanding. Charles did yeoman's work guessing for virtually everyone. He also added an extra bottle so I could join in the fun. My notes are short, as I was playing moderator and sommelier.

The wines were in flights of two:

2004 August Kesseler Riesling QbA 'R'
2004 August Kesseker Estate Riesling QbA (Rheingau)
The 'R' was very bright, but also chalky in mouthfeel. Lots of citrus fruit with decent length (meaning it had a finish) for a $7 wine. The Estate was richer and rounder with more of an apple character to the fruit. Quite good and an even bigger bargain despite the $8 price I paid on release.

2001 Josef Leitz Rudesheimer Klosterlay QbA (Rheingau)
2002 Hexamer Meddersheimer RHeingrafenberg Riesling QbA 'Quartzit' (Nahe)
Two very different wines with one thing in common - skip your next dentist appointment. Lots of acid here. The Leitz is starting to round into a more integrated wine, with the very beginnings of smoke and forest floor aromas to go along with its still prominent fruit. It will hold and develop for several more years. The Hexamer is BRIGHT and very peachy, still carrying some spritz at 5 years of age. It's a very tasty drink if you like lots of acidity in your Riesling. I do...so...Yum! The amazing thing is how little the Hexamer has moved in its five years. Give Harald Hexamer cridit, as he is crafting wines that are starting to look like agers.

2000 Muller-Catoir Haardter Burgergarten Riesling Kabinett
2000 Muller-Catoir Gimmeldinger Mandelgarten Riesling Kabinett (Pfalz)
Two very different wines from the same vintage and winemaker. The Burgergarten was nearly dry, with austere citrus fruit and a strong mineral backbone. The Mandelgarten was more off-dry with lots of peach and tropical fruits. There was also an appealing lime zest element to the mid-palate and finish. I may not be a fan of the 2000 vintage, but the Mandelgarten is a delicious wine that is worth seeking out. If you like austere, mineral dense wines go for the Burgergarten.

1999 Dr. Fischer Wawerner Herrenberg Riesling Spatlese (Saar)
1999 J. J. Christoffel Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Spatlese (Mosel)
Both of these wines had some serious sulphur aromas. The Dr. Fischer was less marked by signs of eternal damnation, and also very bright (there's that Saar acidity) with lots of lime and even cherry flavors. The Christoffel was like stepping into a volcano on a trip to hell. I have never, ever smelled a wine so marked by sulphurous/leesy/cheesy aromatics as this bottle. On the palate the wine was significantly more enjoyable, with well balanced fruit and acid (yes the '99s are coming into better balance after 8 years), but oh my the stink. Make gunpowder with this one, or leave any bottles in the cellar for a long time in the holes that the stink subsides.

Then we had the wine Charles inserted for people's amusement (to watch me guess):

Well there's bright fruit and good acidity. This tastes very young (by the way the lip of the bottle was green, so I can't take credit for getting to the Mosel) and it has some spiciness on the palate. Hmm...there's a creaminess that I find very familiar. I stake my guess on the creamy aspect and go with 2001 J. J. Christoffel Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Auslese*. I wasn't too far off, as the wine was the 1998 J. J. Christoffel Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Auslese**. I don't feel too bad about that guess. Great wine that was my favorite of the night. Thanks Charles!

Then it was back to blind wines for the group:

1999 Freiherr von Schleinitz Koberner Wiesenberg Riesling Auslese (Mosel)
1999 Vereingte Hospitien Scharzhofberger Riesling Auslese Gold Capsule (Saar)
Opinions were very divided on this flight. Laura and I liked both wines, while many folks openly despised the von Schleinitz for its rather obvious grapefruit peel finish. Both wines showed the tropical honey character that combined 1999 softness with significant botrytis. The von Schleinitz may not be the cleanest wine around though. The Scharzhofberger was very well balanced and looks to have a bright future in the cellar despite the generally mediocre performance of the producer in my experience.

2004 Josef Leitz Rudesheimer Bischofsberg Riesling Auslese (Rheingau)
2004 Kurt Darting Durkheimer Nonnengarten Rieslaner Beerenauslese (Pfalz)
This was one great flight. Toally different kinds of wine, but both great examples of their type. The Leitz was fresh, very focused and bright, with intense citrus tinged tropical fruit and a solid mineral base. Delicious. The Darting was classic Rieslaner with the more rustic, spicy, burnished fruit, not unlike distilled pineapple honey. Wid stuff that should be neary ageless.

Fun night.

This was sure a fun night, David. I havent typed up all my notes yet.

In every flight I liked the "B" wine far more than the "A" wine, except for the last flight where I'd buy both!

I was very impressed with Leitz Aus. That was my WOTN with the 98 Christoffel Aus** from Charles a close second.

It was good to see (or smell) that the sulphur in the 99 Christoffel Spat blew off reasonably quickly. Well, at least it wasnt impossible to get near your nose after about an hour. I really enjoyed the white/yellow fruit taste of the wine and it had nice balance.

As far as the dreaded von Schleinitz, for me it wasnt the grapefruit pith bitterness that was so off-putting as it was a flavor of non-noble rot. It just tasted very decayed.

I also really enjoyed the "warm-up" wine, 2004 Runner Gewurz Bergweingarten (Alsace). Good gewurz richness and very lively stuff.

Thanks for pulling it all together for us, and thanks, as usual, to our hosts.

David, thanks for putting together a very enjoyable and even educational tasting. Thanks especially for not recording how the enthusiasm and "certainty" of my guesses was matched only by how far wrong they were.

You, on the other hand, came amazingly close. I could easily see that you'vee been working closely with the US space program for years---you were only 3 years late and missed by a star : )
Charles

[David M. Bueker]

You, on the other hand, came amazingly close. I could easily see that you'vee been working closely with the US space program for years---you were only 3 years late and missed by a star : )
Charles

Ouch. I'll tell John Glenn you said that.

Just to add another perspective, I offer up my tasting notes from this evening of blind German wines.

Flight 1:
2004 August Kesseler Riesling QbA 'R' (Rheingau): Reticent nose with some apple, citrus, and a chalky Altoid dust note. In the mouth, not a lot of excitement—decent balance, not much richness or distinctive flavor. I honestly wouldn’t pay the $7 release price for this. It is certainly not bad, just boring (for me).

2004 August Kesseler Estate Riesling QbA (Rheingau): Here, there is a much prettier nose, with dried roses, soft orange blossom, and a bit of graphite. It is richer, with more body, more sweetness and more character. This Estate wine is so much more giving than the negociant ‘R’ that I can’t see why anyone would buy the R when the Estate is only a buck more.

Flight 2:
2001 Josef Leitz Rudesheimer Klosterlay Riesling QbA (Rheingau): While I did not state it until after the bags were pulled off, my first thought on this wine was a Leitz Dragonstone or Rudesheimer Klosterlay Kabinett. In the end, I was not terribly far off. The nose features pineapple and other pungent tropical fruits. In the mouth, it has a very bright, almost briny tang that effectively offsets the tropical fruits, smoke and sweetness on the finish. I like this style, so I found it quite appealing. Just outside of my top 5 of the night.

2002 Hexamer Meddersheimer Rheingrafenberg Riesling QbA 'Quartzit' (Nahe): This is showing a fair amount of spritz in the glass, which carries through to both the nose and the palate. There is apple, pear and slate on the nose, and the palate is a bit bittersweet—like both a peach and a peach pit at the same time. The bright acidity made me think this was a few years younger.

Flight 3:
2000 Muller-Catoir Haardter Burgergarten Riesling Kabinett (Pfalz): This wine features a very tight, taut nose of lemon peel, the flavors of which are echoed in the flavor profile. I think I found this a bit more textured than David’s note would suggest, and found it sweeter on the finish than in the attack or mid-palate, which were dominated by strong minerality.

2000 Muller-Catoir Gimmeldinger Mandelgarten Riesling Kabinett (Pfalz): I like the nose a lot more here than on the Burgergarten. It is richer, with a nice pear and weak iced tea profile. Also very nice in the mouth, with a fine finish. I had no guess whatsoever on these wines (and it is just as well, as I would have been way off).

Flight 4:
1999 Dr. Fischer Wawerner Herrenberg Riesling Spatlese (Saar): There were two producers this night that I had never tried before—this being one of them. And I have to say I liked this particular bottling—it was my #5 wine of the night. I arrived late and so got to these wines a good 15 minutes after everyone else, so I did not get nearly as much sulphur as others—but it was still unmistakably there. Beyond that, the nose is fairly exotic with lime zest and lots of red fruit—my note says “raspberry spritzer meets watered-down mead”. It is also interesting in the mouth, with what I can only describe as a “gummy” mouthfeel, with the wine seeming to coat my front teeth and gums with flavors of mandarin orange and minerals. At the same time, it manages to be quite crisp, especially on the finish. An interesting ride.

1999 J. J. Christoffel Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Spatlese (Mosel): One encounters lots and lots and lots of sulphur right off the bat on this wine. Otherwise, I sensed a bit of blueberry cotton candy on the nose. It is more expressive in the mouth, with very good balance and length, but not quite the crispness of the previous wine.

Our host adds another blind wine:
This is a darkish-yellow color—darker than anything else yet tried. It features a soaring nose of lanolin and honeycomb, along with cool slate and a hint of forest floor (like a skunky fern). In the mouth, it is richly sweet in a very nicely integrated package. There are flavors of mineral and honey over a very distinctively creamy texture. The finish has good length and some tropical fruits to go along with a delicious apple note. My guess was a ’98 Mosel Auslese—a guess made with little or no confidence. It was the 1998 J. J. Christoffel Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Auslese**. So, I was glad to see I was at least in the ballpark, but I would never have been able to guess the producer or vineyard the way David did, nor would the notion of stars have ever occurred to me. Oh well! Oh yeah, this was my wine of the night.

Then it was back to blind wines:

Flight 5:
1999 Freiherr von Schleinitz Koberner Wiesenberg Riesling Auslese (Mosel): What can I say? I HATED this wine. It has been a long time since I’ve had this kind of visceral reaction to a wine. My notes just say “weird, weird, awful, with bitter off-putting grapefruit peel”.

1999 Vereingte Hospitien Scharzhofberger Riesling Auslese Gold Capsule (Saar): In contrast, I liked this wine quite a bit, especially the enticing nose, which has plenty of ripe pear and apple aromas. It shows good richness and body and plenty of sweet, spicy fruit. It comes up a bit short on the finish—otherwise I might have had it higher than my #4 wine of the night.

Flight 6:
2004 Josef Leitz Rudesheimer Bischofsberg Riesling Auslese (Rheingau): This is very pale in color when compared to its flight-mate. It has a soft yet engaging bouquet of orange peel, honeysuckle, and light honey. It is very taut in the mouth, with an excellent bracing balance. It also displays an effortless amount of body, a fine degree of sweetness and a tightly focused minerality. I also like the very long finish. Excellent. A wine to seek out. My #2 wine of the night.

2004 Kurt Darting Durkheimer Nonnengarten Rieslaner Beerenauslese (Pfalz): As David mentioned, this was quite a nice flight. The color here is dark yellow. The nose shows off a mélange of ripe pineapple, graham cracker and botrytis cream. It is even better in the mouth, with powdered dry pineapple squares and clean, spicy botrytis character. It has ample, plump body, tons of maple syrup-like viscosity, and very good length in the mouth. Gorgeous. My #3 wine of the night.

Thanks again to David for organizing, Laura for the excellent cheese selection, and Charles and Glenna for their gracious hosting (and use of their wine glasses).

-Michael

[David M. Bueker]

Fantastic notes Michael.

1998 J. J. Christoffel Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Auslese**

I have a few in the cellar -- aging potential in your opinion? I'm waiting for its tenth birthday to pop open the first bottle.

Randy,
I had a little bit left in my glass the next morning and it was better than the night before (and I loved it then). The fruit was more generous. I plan to wait at least a year before opening another.
Charles

Thanks, Charles. That speaks volumes to me.