Browse Tag

germany

Laurentiuslay Stallone

St. Urbans-Hof 2005 Leiwener Laurentiuslay Riesling Spätlese feinherb 28 06 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) – Ripe and sweet green apple, elegant, soft, yet very long, with hidden concentration. There’s a great future here. (2/07)

Doc Ock Bock

St. Urbans-Hof 2005 Ockfener Bockstein Riesling Kabinett 14 06 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) – Sulfur, melon, and gravel. Clean and hard. Like a waterfall over rocks. (2/07)

Keith & Dennis

St. Urbans-Hof 2006 Riesling 45 06 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) – Banana cream, strawberry, and Rainier cherry. Not my kind of riesling. (2/07)

Vait a Weil

Weil 2005 “Estate” Dry Riesling (Rheingau) – Very concentrated, intense, aggressive, and dry at the finish. Slate and paper. (2/07)

Gunderloch Lomond

Gunderloch 2005 Riesling Kabinett “Jean-Baptiste” (Rheinhessen) – Pineapple, ripe grapefruit, pomegranate. Lightly sweet with good acidity. Fresh and clean. (2/07)

40 acres & a Meulenhof

Meulenhof 1998 Erdener Treppchen Riesling Spätlese 06 99 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) – At first crack, the petrol is rather severe. This dissipates quickly, however, leaving just a bit of petroleum alongside a crisply acidic palate with balancing bits of sweetness and skin bitterness. (1/08)

Willi the wimp

Willi Schaefer 1994 Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Auslese 06 95 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) – Blood orange and metal with mild but impossible-to-ignore oxidation, big acidity, and caramel on the finish. Damaged in at least one, and possibly more than one, way…cork, heat, premox? Maybe a little of each? (1/08)

Juffer, me later

Haag 2002 Brauneberger Juffer Riesling Kabinett 3 03 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) – Weird for a good 24 hours, after which it’s still a bit odd, showing a light char to its ripe, red fruit core of intense sweetness paired with fiery, slightly burning acidity. Heat-damaged and closed, perhaps? I’ve got more, so we’ll see. (12/07)

No Mussbacher, no fuss

[bottle]Müller-Catoir 1990 Mussbacher Eselshaut Rieslaner Auslese 98 91 (Rheinpfalz) – Big fun, though it’s particular enough that it’s not for everyone. Bronzed cream dominates, with somewhat riotous exotic herbs floating about on top, and a palate that seems like it should be more sugary than it actually is. Drink up. (10/07)

Short names, vol. 1

[vineyard]JP Reinert 2005 Wiltinger Schlangengraben Riesling Spätlese feinherb 08 06 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) – Intense and primary. Crystals abound (organoleptically, not visually), while apple, lemongrass and a very light sweetness add their voices to the chorus. The finish is strikingly long for its rigidity; this is a wine that does not change. I think it’s going to be terrific, someday, but right now it’s a laser beam of youthful simplicity with a quartz rod rammed through its spine. (9/07)