Browse Tag

germany

TN: Jabba the Hütte

[vineyard]von Hövel 2003 Oberemmeler Hütte Riesling Eiswein * 12 04 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) – Butterscotch and vanilla, layered with thick maple syrup. The acidity barely rises to fair, and that only on the finish. Too obvious for my tastes, and I’m not sure time will help matters. (6/07)

Benedict Loosen-Erben 1990 Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Spätlese *** 003 92 (Mose-Saar-Ruwer) – Still strong, showing sugar over old waffles, plus ripe apple lending a bit of lift. (6/07)

[vine]Karlsmühle 2002 Lorenzhöfer Riesling Auslese 15 03 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) – Extreme intensity in liquid form. Very sweet, dominated by pineapple, but just way too forceful to really enjoy right now. Revisit in a decade, at the earliest. (6/07)

Zilliken 2002 Saarburger Rausch Riesling Auslese 5 03 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) – Sulfurous, with great acidity buoying graceful lavender notes. However, the palate is absent and the finish is shockingly abrupt. A sulfur artifact? Or mild TCA? Hard to tell in this setting. (6/07)

TN: Oberhäus, in the middle of our street

Dönnhoff 2001 Oberhäuser Leistenberg Riesling Kabinett 004 02 (Nahe) – Ripe apple with some steel. Simple and tart on the finish. This seems to be eroding rather than aging, as predicted by many…as if a protective layer of pleasure were being sand-etched from an archeaological structure. (6/07)

TN: Darting left and right

[bottles & glasses]Darting 2005 Dürkheimer Steinberg Muskateller Kabinett Trocken 008 06 (Pfalz) – Floral, showing lime rind and white pepper. It’s on the short side, and perhaps a touch green, but it’s nice. I think being surrounded by bigger wines does some organoleptic violence here. (6/07)

TN: Kerpen-tine

[vineyard]Kerpen 1995 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese *** 18 96 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) – Amazingly balanced, with huge acidity and somewhat developed creaminess, yet still with time left (indicated by tart remnants of lemon rind squeezed over rocks). It’s sweet, to be sure, but the acid is such that everything seems better-knit than it might. (6/07)

TN:In heaven there is no beerenauslese

Ernst Bretz 1997 Bechtolsheimer Klosterberg Riesling Beerenauslese (Rheinhessen) – I missed the AP here…21 or 27, something like that, according to my nearly-incomprehensible notes. Anyway, this is curvaceous in a slutty, obvious way, with sharp red apple cider and dark brown sugar. Lots of sugar. Lots of sugar. You’ll note that I’m continually mentioning the sugar because there’s just not that much else to say about it. There’s acid, but not enough, and the whole thing’s a little formless. (6/07)

TN: JJ walker

JJ Prüm 1997 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese 9 98 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) – Finally open for business, though it’s still a baby. The sulfur has dissipated, leaving an intense, satiny ball of electric creamfruit and threaded steel. There’s just enough acidity to balance matters. An infant beauty. (5/07)

JJ Prüm 1997 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese 9 98 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) – Under a cork on the verge of structural failure, and the wine shows more advanced, mildly oxidative tremors underneath its full-bodied weight. Organoleptically, the wine is as noted above, but this bottle has seen a little damage. (5/07)

TN: I put a Hex on you

[vineyard]Hexamer 2005 Schlossböckelheimer In Den Felsen Riesling Spätlese 008 06 (Nahe) – Vivid and somewhat aggressive, with a rounded hammer of ripe apple sheathed in velvet. There’s structure here, but this wine is dominated by its fruit, and it’s a bit on the obvious side. In any case, aging won’t hurt. (5/07)

TN: Double Diel-ing

[burgberg vineyard]Diel 1998 Dorsheimer Burgberg Riesling Kabinett (Nahe) – Apple core and molten aluminum, well-salted aged riesling creaminess, and a woven texture. This is in a beautiful place right now, and I see little reason to hold it. (5/07)

Diel 1997 Dorsheimer Burgberg Riesling Kabinett (Nahe) – Creamier and heavier than the ’98, showing more obvious, round stone fruit popsicle, a polished mouthfeel, and a moderate amount of finishing oil. It could go longer, but the acid is a little deficient…though not unpleasantly so.(5/07)

TN: The Liest of our worries

Dönnhoff 2005 Oberhäuser Leistenberg Riesling Kabinett (Nahe) – Fresh, vivid peach and citrus with a squeezed stone liquidity, fairly intense sweetness, and an acidic structure that’s struggling a bit beneath the competing elements. This looks to have a good life ahead of it, but it’s predictably straightforward now. (5/07)

TN: Willi the wimp

Willi Schaefer 2004 Riesling 01 05 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) – Simple, showing pith and lemongrass with a faint, edge-of-the-palate sweetness. There’s not much more to be said about this wine, really. (4/07)