AWS Riesling Tasting

Last week (June 10) the local chapter of the AWS held a Riesling tasting. This was my second Riesling tasting, the first being last year’s NiagaraCOOL. 14 wines were tasted, but unlike previous AWS tastings, these were not served blind and the scores were not accumulated and averaged, so the only scores I can give are my own. I had hoped to be able to copy the exact names on the labels, but I missed a few, and since I was writing with a wide point felt tip pen, my writing is hard to read. 5 were German, 1 Ontario, 6 Finger Lakes and 2 home made. If I can obtain the info on the wines, I’ll update this. The order of serving was from dry to sweet, but there were a few a bit out of order. Scoring is the 20 point AWS.

1. ’05 Hosmer Finger Lakes - $22 – I liked this a lot, intense fruit – peaches and apricots and a long, full finish. 18 points
2. ’05 Hart’s (my home made) no score – As this was poured, my cell phone rang in my pocket. It was my son calling from Iraq, so I excused myself to another room to talk with him. When I returned, I received a few nice compliments on my wine.
3. ’05 Thirsty Owl Finger Lakes - $14 – Peaches on the nose, sound, but quite simple. 13 points
4. ’05 This is one of the labels I missed (I think it had the name Kohler on the label) Germany - $37 Very complex with hints of a bready-yeastiness – very aromatic with a long full finish. 19 points
5. ’04 Kabinette (missed the label) $22 – very aromatic - apricots – very nice – long finish. $22
6. ’03 Atwater Finger Lakes - Good nose, but lacking in the finish 15 points
7. ’05 Anthony Road Finger Lakes – simple, short finish – something odd here – 11 points
8. ’06 Riesling-Traminette blend (home made by John Czyrny) Good fruit – pears and peaches on the nose, medium finish. 16
9. ’06 Wagner Finger Lakes $13 Good but not intense bouquet – medium finish and nice balance. 15 points
10. ’04 M-S-R (missed this label) $14 - 7.5% ABV – very light straw color, hint of apricots on the nose, but the finish was like drinking sugar water – short 11 points
11. ’04 Weingut Johannishof V Riesling Kabinett $19 Good nose of citrus, sweet but balanced nicely with the acidity – medium-long finish 16 points
12. ’05 Cave Spring Ontario Late Harvest – Good nose of pear and apricot, nicely balanced with medium long finish. 16 points
13. ’05 Schlossgut Diel Dorsheimer Goldloch Riesling Spatlese Nahe 8.5% ABV, $32 – very intense nose of apricots, very long full, well balanced finish. (question –How can a wine with such a low ABV have such a big nose?) 19 points
14. ’06 Chateau Lafayette Reneau Finger Lakes - Not foul, but nothing there – very strange 9 points

My overall impression from this tasting is that higher priced German Rieslings are superb and more complex than their New World counterparts. A very educational afternoon.

Howie,
The low score of the CLR is pretty shocking to me. Are you positive it was not off, it is one of my "wines of the vintage". Perhaps we need to enjoy one together sometime? Thanks for all the notes and the report.

question-How can a wine with such a low ABV have such a big nose?

Ahh.. the joy of German riesling..

Ahh.. the joy of German riesling..

I'm mostly familiar with local Riesling from the Finger Lakes or Ontario, which are nice, but these higher end Germans are amazing.

Ahh.. the joy of German riesling..

I'm mostly familiar with local Riesling from the Finger Lakes or Ontario, which are nice, but these higher end Germans are amazing.

FWIW, if you enjoyed the Diel, the God of the Nahe is Dönnhoff, which costs a few more dollars but should provide you with considerable pleasure. Generally speaking 2005 was an excellent year for German riesling, and while some may be starting to shutdown, many good examples should still be available and still be drinking well.

Depending on your tastes 2004 is also quite useful, although it was nowhere near as rich of a vintage, and more crisp/classic.

2006 was highly variable, so be careful when the wines start to appear later this year.

Don't know if you check in on all the threads, but if you do searches there are plenty of discussions here about German riesling, which should provide plenty of reading and plenty of buying advice!

Thanks Rahsaan,
As a home winemaker who makes Riesling I read most of the posts here about Riesling, and all by Dave Bueker, even if they're not about Riesling. As far as German wines, I understand the progression from Kabinette through TBA, and the difference between Mosel and Rhine, but I still find the lables very confusing. One almost needs to take a label guide into the wine store to know what you're buying.

As a home winemaker who makes Riesling.

Well, that should certainly provide you with an interesting/informed perspective and I look forward to hearing how you respond to the German wines as you taste more..

Generally speaking 2005 was an excellent year for German riesling, and while some may be starting to shutdown, many good examples should still be available and still be drinking well.

Rahsaan (or any other German riesling aficionados who want to chime in),

Are there any useful generalizations about when German rieslings tend to shut down? To be honest, I was not aware that they did. Do certain regions, certain producers, or certain types of vintages tend to shut down? And when do they tend to open back up? Or is this an area where generalizations are not useful and we only know that they are shutting down/opening back up because of reports from the front?

Are there any useful generalizations about when German rieslings tend to shut down?

Generally speaking it is the same as all wine in that the young primary fruit phase lasts roughly 2-5 years depending on vintage. Of course in German wines you have the additional variable of pradikat. So while some 2001 kabinetts may have already emerged on the other side for their "Second life" and be drinking well now and showing more mature notes, many of the spatleses and ausleses are probably still shutdown and need more time (perhaps you remember the 01 Auslese we tried at Haart that was all structure).

On the other hand, some upper level 03 wines may still be riding on the strength of their plush fruit, which is part of the explanation behind the theory that ripe CA and Southern European wines don't shut down as hard as Northern wines because they are less structured in the first place and always rely on their juicy fruit.

Perhaps others have more to say on that.

If you really want to see for yourself try a 2002 spatlese from the Mosel which if I am not mistaken should be a prime candidate for wines that are shut down hard right now.

we only know that they are shutting down/opening back up because of reports from the front?

That is always the case. And without the need for such reports we would not have lots of the valuable traffic on boards like this

[ Do certain regions, certain producers, or certain types of vintages tend to shut down? And when do they tend to open back up?

FWIW, to my knowledge it's all about charting the development of the interaction between fruit/extract and structure (acid/tannin/alcohol). Each vintage and each grape will have slightly different variations on the development. Which makes this so fun!

the God of the Nahe is Dönnhoff

I enjoy their wines as well. I have everything from Spatlese to Eiswein from Oberhäuser Brücke and Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle. Delightful wines.

FWIW, to my knowledge it's all about charting the development of the interaction between fruit/extract and structure (acid/tannin/alcohol). Each vintage and each grape will have slightly different variations on the development.

Thank you, Rahsaan, very helpful response. A bunch of elements I was familiar with but was not putting together in my head. I was aware of this development with certain Bordeaux where the wine was enjoyable when fresh and young but then went through a dead period after the initial fruit had worn off but the structure had not come to terms with itself. I hadn't made the connection with riesling, but bringing the pradikats back in helps me understand that. Certainly I can understand that an auslese would require time to resolve itself, but that a kabinett would require less, and perhaps a QbA might offer no dead period at all, generally speaking. In any case, I'll pay more attention to reports on this front in the future. Thanks!