Browse Month

December 2008

Defoliation

JP Brun 2006 Beaujolais Rosé “d’folie” (Beaujolais) – Sunlit berries with squirts of ripe blood orange. The wine pulses rather than flows, but it’s quite engaging amidst the peaks and troughs. (12/08)

Sattler brothers

[label]Sattler 2006 St. Laurent “Reserve” (Burgenland) – Aromatic with crushed petals and leaves, beets, and herbs. Limpid yet intense, with a beautiful texture. However, there’s also some butter and vanilla on the finish that doesn’t integrate, with some bitterness (oak tannin, perhaps). The wood’s too present now, but the wine retains its promise. (12/08)

Prince Ruprecht

Koehler-Ruprecht 2002 Kallstadter Saumagen Riesling Auslese 04 03 (Pfalz) – Back up the diesel tank! Very light cream, with a texture that alternates between a gritty roughness and a down feather softness. Powerful at its metallic core. Sweet and intense, good fantastic acidity. The long finish leaves the minerality in exposed solitude. Very, very good. (12/08)

Georgetown, BC, St. Joe’s…

[label]Spreitzer 2007 Winkeler Jesuitengarten Riesling Spätlese 025 08 (Rheingau) – Light petroleum and smoky coal (get some uranium in there, and this wine will have quite the power-generating capacity), plus sweet banana. Ripe, with great acidity (thankfully, since the wine is very sweet). The finish sorta lingers, but doesn’t really develop. Still, there’s a lot to like here. (12/08)

Bury your head

[label]Spreitzer 2007 Oestricher Lenchen Riesling Kabinett 028 08 (Rheingau) – Tropical (guava, mango) and floral, counterpointed by a slightly sour yogurt aroma. Fair acidity. This wine makes a big, attention-getting announcement of its presence, but doesn’t really follow through on the trumpeting. It’s good, though, and the finish lingers for a little while. (12/08)

Miniminer

[label]Carl Schmitt-Wagner 2007 Longuicher Maximiner Herrenberg Riesling Spätlese Feinherb 03 08 (Mosel) – Lightly petrol-skinned. Feels clean, round, and dry. Fairly insignificant now, but the finish is strikingly long and at a steady volume throughout, so there might be more here to find as the wine ages. Or maybe not. (12/08)

Osterizer

[label]Selbach-Oster 2007 Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese 009 08 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) – Very dense. Makrut lime, green apple, pear…and then dark, brooding coal underneath. A massive wine – certainly much larger than a spätlese should probably be, but then that’s the modern paradigm isn’t it? – but while it’s heavy, it’s balanced and long, and should age beautifully. (12/08)

Sonnenuhr & daughter

[label]Selbach-Oster 2007 Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett 027 08 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) – Severely sweet to the point of imbalance, with only decent acidity vs. what it needs, and a thick, soupy pear finish. I am quite aware that my impression of this wine is unusual (and frankly it’s the first Selbach-Oster I’ve disliked in a very, very long time), but unfortunately there’s no replacement bottle available. I’m burdening this note with such a lengthy caveat because I’m strongly suspicious that this particular bottle is not representative of the wine. (12/08)

Haardt & soul

[label]Müller-Catoir 2007 Haardt Muskateller Kabinett Trocken 09 08 (Pfalz) – Perfumed, of course…mostly orange blossom…with huge acidity and a lovely slosh of iron flakes. Rather huge for a muscat that’s not fortified or otherwise enhanced, and absolutely stuffed with muscatty goodness. The finish is lengthy, which (again) isn’t what one usually expects from the grape. I’ve had a few muscats that were better than this, but only a few. (12/08)

Repent, Sinner!

[label]Prieler 2007 Chardonnay Sinner (Burgenland) – Melon, ripe and clean, with the aromatics of a big-fruited wine, but the acid balance and purity of a leaner expression of the grape. There are hints of banana (native rather than industrial), but rather than falling over into tropicality, the mineral lacings of this wine eventually tie it up in a fine bow. Alas, that chardonnay doesn’t usually taste like this. (12/08)